Fullmetal Adventure II!
by EmiieRoxs
Summary: The fans are back! it's time for drama, action&humor, and most of all, ROMANCE! but with a new visit comes new characters, plots and more than anything.. CONFLICT! see what happens in this sequel! now revised and bettuh than evuh! plz R
1. Old Friends and New Friends in Risenbool

A/N: chapter 1 brand new and updated. hope u all like it i added some things to it since i had to change it... hope u like reading Fullmetal Adventure II!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, **however!** I do own Li-san and Hazel and upcoming characters that I make up! -smirks-

**Special Guests:** Two brothers who once claimed to be the Elrics... (i'm sure u know who i'm talkin about!)

**Chapter 1: Old And New Friends In Risenbool**

_"Well well, welcome back you two." ..._

_"It's good to be back." ..._

Hazel and Li-san smiled happily as they looked at Truth with a curious look on its face. There was a silence brewing, and in time everyone had sweatdrops running down behind their heads.

"Soooo... How long has it been anyways since we've visited?" Hazel asked as Li-san was checking herself out as she looked at how tall she was and how she changed in anime form.

_"It's been about four years... Your friends have been worried that you would never show."_ Truth replied.

"Oh well, that's not too--" Li-san started and then her eyse bulged, realizing what Truth had just said.

**"FOUR YEARS?!"** Li-san cried and rushed up to Truth.

**"LISTEN BUB! IF YOU KNOW EVERYTHING DID AL GET A NEW GIRLFRIEND?!"** Li-san cried.

_"Al is still single. He is still loyal to you though I don't know why Miss FireBreathing Dragon Lady."_ Truth responded in an irritated tone.

"Oh good. I'm glad... I can't wait to see Al! He'll love the present I got him!" Li-san said happily and then opened the box to reveal the little yellow with black stripes kitten who meowed softly. Li-san gave it it's bottle of milk before covering the kitten up once more when it curled into a little cute ball.

"And by the way mister, I am not a FireBreathing Dragon Lady! YOU GOT THAT?!" Li-san roared in outrage, and Truth couldn't help but sweatdrop. Truth sighed, and then put a hand to Truths forehead.

_"I rest my case and will say no more."_ Truth said and Li-san had a questionable look while Hazel snickered in the backround.

"So um, can you like make the Gate open so we can go to Risenbool? I really don't wanna walk all the way." Hazel said after a few seconds later. Truth sighed with an angered look on its face.

_"What do you think I am? Area service?"_ Truth asked.

"Nope. Just a ticket to Risenbool!" Li-san joked and Truth sighed.

_"One trip to Risenbool, coming up."_ Truth said and snapped its fingers as the doors opened to show the very familiar automail shop owned by Winry Rockbell. Instead though, rain seemed to be falling, and the lights were all on. The two could see some people inside that they recognized quickly even with the slight hair difference. As Hazel and Li walked to The Gate, Hazel rushed over and handed Truth the semi big box. Truth stared at it blankly, and then looked up at the two girls.

"Thanks dude! Here ya go! Merry Christmas even though it may be early! Next time we visit be sure that we know you like our preeeeseeeent!" Hazel sung happily.

_"For your information, Christmas has come and gone... you're in the middle of early spring." _Truth said.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Li-san burst as she rushed over to Truth, flames in her eyes. Truth sweatdropped and backed away... _slowly_. "WHADDAYA MEAN CHRISTMAS IS OVER?!" Li-san spazzed.

_"You guys aren't well with the time scheduale here apparently."_ Truth replied as he put a finger to his ear as in annoyance to Li's loud roaring.

"Aw man... and after all the presents we got em... We'll just have to give them to everyone anyways, no biggie. Just promise us you'll wear the gift we got you, okay?" Hazel asked. At this notation, Li-san's eyes lit up happily.

"YEAH! YEAH! Pleeaseee! Do it for your two favoritest alchemists!" Li-san chanted adn without another word, the two rushed through the door as it closed. When the two doors made a bang of silence, Truth looked at the box with a blank expression. Motionlessly Truth opened the box and then felt like an eye was twitching. Truth took out what was inside, and looked at it dumbfoundedly.

_"What-the-hell?"_ Truth asked in bewhilderment and then looked at The Gate, not saying another word. _'I knew it... I knew that the second they came back they'd drive me crazy.'_ Truth thought and shakily reached into the box for its present to!-... (i won't say what it is yet! -smirks-)

Hazel and Li-san landed with a thud about a few miles away from the house, and they started to shiver slightly as the rain began to soak their clothes. Seemed they were in the middle of a rainstorm, and a big one at that.

"Next time let's be more specific with where we want to land." Li-san said as she zippered down her coat and then looked to see if the kitten was all right. Luckily, this was an anime world so the kitten wasn't hurt, just dazed really as it's eyes were replaced with swirlies. _'Man I'm glad we came here just in time... Probably by now the poor cat would be dead!' _Li-san thought with a sweatdrop and a nervous smile as she snuggled the box that held the kitten inside her warm coat. As the two walked down the road, they noticed that up top on the hill there was...a house?! Did the Elrics remake their house? Had people moved into Risenbool? What really changed here? That was something new...but wasn't that also the place where Ed and Al had burned their house when they were only 11? Weird...

"Say Hazel, you remember that house up there?" Li-san asked.

"Nope, do you?" Hazel asked.

"Nope, that's why I asked you dumbass." Li-san countered and Hazel's eyes narrowed.

We'll hafta ask Winry or someone when we get to the Rockbells." Hazel said and as the two were almost near, wondered how everyone was and what they looked like, not to mention probably the reaction when they would see Ed open his present on Christmas day to find a pair of elevator shoes that would make him taller by five inches.

"I hope Ed likes the gift. Truth took us forever looking in every single store we could find to locate these kind of shoes." Hazel said.

"Yeah...Truth's ashame really after six stores we finally realized we could just go to an anime convention that would probably sell elevator shoes." Li-san said with a sweatdrop. When they reached the door, they knocked on it about three times before a howl broke through.

"That would be Den." the two said in unison and then watched as the door opened to see someone very small look up at them. Truth was still amazing really how tall they were compared to the Old Lady of the household.

"Hiya Pinako-san. Is it just me or have we grown a few inches." Li-san said jokingly with a grunt after Hazel had shoved an elbow in her side. The two then stared back at Pinako. By this time after Pinako opened the door all the way, her pipe fell to the floor as she stood in the middle of the doorway, a stunned look on her face. The two were concerned about this, and just stared, waiting for Pinako's reaction.

"Way to go Li, you made Pinako mad at us probably! She's speechless!" Hazel whispered.

"It was a joke! God!" Li-san whispered back and the two turned to Pinako when she found her voice to say _something _at the least.

"Why I never thought I'd see the day..." she said in awe as Den kept barking happily. Li-san bent down to pet Den on the head to have him tackle her to the ground and lick her continuously. Hazel couldn't help but slap herself on the forehead, sighing. _'Li never ceases to amaze me.'_ Hazel couldn't help but think as she rolled her eyes.

"Hiya Den ol' buddy ol' pal! How've you been?! Hey...you seem a little white around your muzzle and ears... Are you growing.._old_?" Li-san asked, shocked. Den growled angrily, and Li-san apologized.

"Oh brother...Li when will you grow up?" Hazel asked. Pinako seemed to chuckle at that one, knowing that this wasn't a dream, she was really seeing Hazel and Li-san after four years! Man oh man were they different, and older. ...Had Li grown weight? She seemed to be...a little bulky where her chest was... Hazel seemed to be perfectly fine. Okay, so it was rude to think about someone's weight when years passed by with no trace of these two girls, but still!

She could also hear some creaks coming from the girls' automail, and it was at this that she was sure that they needed their automail updated as well, for if her hunch was correct, she'd have a lot of work to do like she and Winry usually had with customers who needed upgrades. She wondered how the two could live with their automail, probably so old by now. She watched the two bickering like they did back then, it was like they had never left to her.

"What? I'm just saying hi to Den! You should do that too Hazel! Den deserves a good pat anyways since we haven't visited him in a while. Hey Den look we got you presents!" Li-san exclaimed and got up to fish through the bag of gifts Hazel was holding.

"Watch it Li! Do you want me to drop all of these presents on you?!" Hazel cried in rage as Li-san finally found Den's gifts. Truth was then that Li's hands were filled with bones. As Li bent back down to Den who came out a little closer, he examining the bulky bones in front of him by cocking his head to one side.

"Here Den! Do you like Bacon flavored or no? We got you different ones cause we couldn't decide. We got you a bacon flavored bone, a pork flavored bone, a chicken flavored bone, and a lamb flavored bone!" Li-san said happily and then noticed Den was sniffing at her coat, wondering why she looked so _bulky_.

"Oh! No worries Den lookee lookee!" Li-san exclaimed happily and opened her jacket to reveal the little box with Al's present that was inside. Li-san opened the box a peek for Den to see what was inside. He cocked his head to the side, and then saw the little kitten mew. Den smiled brightly, and then stuck his snout in the box giving the little kitten a warm lick. The cat mewed in happiness and gave Den a lick on his wet nose. Den barked happily, and Li-san closed the box so the kitten could be warm. She then zippered up her jacket to give Den a pat on the head.

"Good boy Den! Now then, which bone do you want for Christmas?" Li-san asked as she tilted her head to the side. Den sniffed each one, and then finally barked happily as he took the lamb flavored one. By this time, Hazel could tell she had sweatdrops all around the back of her head. Also, she noticed that Pinako still seemed to be examining them for a while, and the bags plus the gifts in their-..er, well, Hazel's hands. When Li-san stood up with a grin no her face and then a blank look, both the girls were silent for a moment, and then sweatdropped.

"Oh uh, you weren't ready to see us yet? Okay then we'll be off... After all we have to deliver these presents to Central and IronTown too..." she said disappointed and the two started to walk away. Den whined a little bit as his tail went between his legs, still holding the bone in his mouth. He looked up at Pinako who was still having her mouth opened slightly, and he took matters into his own hands. He started to bark constantly until Pinako spoke up.

"All right Den! Quiet! Li-san! Hazel! Nonsense you two come right in! Truth's just so unbelievable how you two have changed and grown! I'm sure you'll want automail to be the right height and all too so you've come to the right shop! Come in come in I'm sure Winry and the boys will be so glad to see you!" Pinako finally said and Den practically shoved the two in with his wet nose as he happily licked their hands in official greeting now.

When they reached the inside of the house, a sweet aroma filled their nostrils. Mmmmm, it seemed the two were just in time for some dinner! Oh man was it making their mouths watering! They noticed everything too, all of it was the same. Besides having some different pictures hung up, everything seemed the same.

The two smiled happily and waited in the family room as Pinako trudged upstairs to go get Ed, Al, and Winry. The two were silent for a while, listening to the clock 'tick' 'tock' 'tick' 'tock' for a few moments. Li-san sighed and then stretched with a playful smile on her face.

"I guess Ed isn't on the Other Side since we musta changed all the events." Li-san chuckled and then noticed pictures hanging up on the walls. She walked over to the fire place Pinako had, and stared at all of the pictures of everyone growing. She couldn't help but smile as she examined all the great pictures hanging on the wall.

There was Ed and Al when they were 16 and 15, and boy did Al grow his hair like Ed's. Winry had grown hers too, and had it in Riza's style. Another picture was of when and how they were now 18 and 17. Ed finally put his in a high ponytail as Al returned his to the way it looked when he was 14, but grew some more bangs for a little difference. Winry's hair had grown a little bit more, and it was still like Riza's style, but she had matured somewhat without probably being too obsessed with automail like she used to be.

"Yeah I know...I think it's great really. If Ed were on the Other Side...things would get complicated ya know?" Hazel added.

"Ya I know whatcha sayin'. If he were then he'd probably be looking for us.." Li-san smiled with a sweatdrop. Hazel smiled too with a laugh as she walked over too, examining everything. The two sighed heavily as they looked at the pictures. Suddenly, Li noticed a small little diary.

"Hey! Hazel look." Li-san said and opened the book up. The two looked inside, and saw that the book belonged to Ed.

"I didn't know Ed had a diary." Hazel said with a soft chuckle.

"It's his journal." Li-san corrected and the two read it.

_April 18_

_Today was the day. Both Al and I have been searching for so long now, and already we've made great progress. We're almost ready to finally succeed in getting my arms and legs back... Still, we have one more thing to take care of, and that's defeating Fuhrer Bradley. Thanks to Li and Hazel we know that he's a homunculous, and he must be gotten rid of as soon as possible. I don't know how we're going to do it, but with the military on our side we'll be sure to win... Damn, I hope after this Mustang'll give me a promotion.._

The two girls turned to a few more pages and read them over carefully. Some had said about special occasions like Als, or Winrys birthdays, and some even mentioned that Ed had finally gotten his limbs back which made the girls very happy. As they neared the end of Ed's dia-er, _journal_, they came to a page that was the most up to date considering after that one there were blank pages.

_January 5th_

_It's already been four years since those two left... It gets harder and harder to say their names without choking a tear, we all miss them those two knuckleheads... Al and I have been getting more and more missions every day, and it only makes my lil bro nervous. I hope they come back soon, though it'll be hard I'm sure they'll find a way. After all, Li and Hazel... they're strong and I know they'll find a way... I just pray that they'll come soon.. We all miss them so much..._

The two girls sniffled, their eyes sparkling with tears.

"That's...so...beautiful!!" Li-san sobbed and Hazel cried.

"I can't believe Ed still believed in us, after all this time! Talk about drama!!!!" Hazel cried. The two girls embraced in a sisterly hug, and then saw two teenages who stared at them with widened eyes. Nearly everyone was silent, until Winry had spoken as her eyes began to water in disbelief and in amazement.

"Hazel..Li... Is it really you?" Winry said tearfully. The two girls smiled with a nod as an answer.

"GEEZ! WHAT THE HELL TOOK YOU GUYS SO DAMN LONG?!" Ed roared in his pissed off tone of voice.

"Hey! DON'T MAKE US REGRET GETTING YOU A CHRISTMAS PRESENT EDO-KUN!" Li-san flamed as a vein popped leaving her eye twitching slightly. The two started a stare off, but soon were cooled off after Winry hit Ed with a wrench and Hazel hit Li with her fist. When the two settled, they looked at eachother brightly with a smile and laughed happily.

"Sorry. What I meant to say, was it's great to see you again." Ed said with a chuckle, but then noticed what was in Li's hand. "IS THAT MY DIARY?!" Ed roared, and everyone stared at him. Li looked at her hand and then sheepishly placed it quickly back on the mantle.

"Diary?" Winry asked, a sly look on her face.

"Er.. I meant journal! JOURNAL!" Ed cried as he blushed. Li-san rushed over to Ed and gave him a hug as he was tackled to the ground.

"ED WE MISSED YOU TOOO!! YOU WROTE SO MANY THOUGHTFUL AND BEAUTIFUL THINGS IN THAT JOURNAL OF YOURS!! THANK YOU FOR STILL BELIEVING IN US!! OH ED!" Li-san exclaimed as Ed seemed to be having trouble breathing.

"Get offa me!!" Ed cried, still embarrassed, but finally thanked Li silently looking away from the group. Li-san smiled, but then looked around curiously.

"Say...where's Alphonse?" she asked with a frown.

"He went out to get some more wood for the fireplace. We decided ever since we got our bodies back to the way they were we'd lay low with the alchemy. Did you know? Al's now a state alchemist. He goes by the name of the LostSoul Alchemist. Funny really.." Ed said with a nervous chuckle.

"Oh..when'll he come back?" Li-san wailed.

"No worries he won't take long, he should be back in a few minutes." Ed said with a smile.

"Gosh...all of us, changed a lot over four years. You guys look amazing!" Winry said with a smile.

"So do you! It's so cool how we were finally able to say hi to all of ya! It took a while for us to finally be able to summon The Gate again. Sorry for the long wait everyone... But we're so glad we were able to visit during Spring! It's gonna rock!" Li-san said brightly with a smile. Hazel smiled with a sweatdrop, knowing that was another of their famous lies... Hey, what else could they think of if they hadn't visited in four years?! Hazel opened her eyes in surprise then, remembering the house they had seen up on the hill where Ed and Al's house once stood.

"Say, we noticed there was a new house here... Someone move in or something?" Hazel asked with a snap of her fingers.

"Oh yeah...We got new neighbors." Ed said frowning, raising a brow.

"Oh really? Who?" Li-san asked curiously.

"Well...you never met them but they recently two weeks ago barged over here and transmuted their own house up there... The nerve really." Ed said with a sigh.

"Oh! I'm so sorry to hear about that E-.."

"Yeah Ed whatever but anyways, Whooooooooooooooooooo?!" Li-san whined as she also interrupted Hazel who had her eyes narrowed when she was rudely interrupted.

"They go by the name of--" Ed was about to say but then the door burst open as some logs were dropped on the floor. A low-ish voice laughed heartily in the front door nervously until the voice spoke.

"Sorry I was late Brother! I think the rainstorm just became a thunder storm, I think I'm almost completely drenched!" Al's voice said sheepishly. He then shouted louder, "Auntie I got some more firewood! Brother help me out here and be prepared too mmkay?!" the voice cried and Li-san immediately rushed over to where Al was, eyes turning to hearts as sparkles flew all around her.

"Ah Li I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Ed shouted but it was too late.

"Why is that?" Hazel asked a little bit later as her eyes narrowed having dark lines below, wondering what would happen next. As she waited for an answer, all Ed did was sweatdrop with a nervous grin on his face. Al didn't notice what Ed had said, and he instinctively thought Ed was coming toward him when he heard footsteps rush up to where he was.

"Here it comes Brother, catch!" Al said and threw the log to have his face turn into a surprised look when he saw Li-san round the corner as the log headed straight for her head!

"AL!" Li-san cried happily, but then she found herself smiling as her eye started to twitch with dark lines under it, mouth twitching slightly.

"DUCK!" Al tried to cry but it was too late. BAM! With one shot Li-san hit the floor with a thud, a big red spot on her forehead followed by seeing blue armored heads swirl around her head in confusion.

"L-LI?!" he cried in disbelief as he rushed over to her, cradling her in his arms. He couldn't believe this, this was real. Li was actually here...here in Risenbool! How long..how long it had been since he'd seen her.. How beautiful she had become over the years... and now, here for Christmas? How great was this! It was a miracle in his mind. He snapped back to reality when Li still didn't wake up, and he shook her a little bit.

"Li! Are you okay?! LI! HEY! I'm so sorry I didn't mean for that to happen Li speak to me!" Al cried in alarm, hoping that he didn't give her a concusion! Li-san finally came to, snapping out of her confusion transe.

"Damn..." she muttered painfully. "What is this? De ja vu all over again? The last time we met for the first time when Hazel and I came here was when your head came flying at me..." Li-san joked with a grunt and immediately Al gave her a hug.

"Don't scare me like that ever again! It's been so long since you were here...so long I-- I almost started to lose hope..." Al said with a teary smile as he embraced her tightly.

"I'm sorry Al...I really really missed you too." Li-san said cheerfully and he helped her up. When they were on their feet, the rest of the gang walked over. Al looked from Li-san, to Hazel. He gave a greeting to Hazel with a smile and a hug and then summoned Ed over to help with the firewood.

"So, what have you two been up to lately? What were you guys doing on the Other Side?" Winry asked when all three girls were sitting down for some tea as the boys were attending the firewood in the fireplace.

"We've been eating..sleeping, working on alchemy, some space stuffers including science as alchemy being a myth... Ya know, the usual." Li-san joked as she waved her hand up and down. Winry laughed a little, and then turned to Hazel.

"Every year Armony called asking where you guys are and how you were. You should give them a call soon letting them know that you're coming back for a visit. You'd better have a good excuse too." Winry said with a half smile.

"Yeah that's right! I know we'll surprise her! We got so many presents for everyone Winry-san! We have one for Ed, Al, Pinako, yourself, Den, Maria, Denny, Riza, Roy, Armstrong, Hughes and his family, Havoc, Breda, Faulman, Fuery, Sciezka, ummm...who else are we missing Ane-san?" Li-san asked when she couldn't think of anyone else.

"Uh... I think that's it really... Oh yeah besides you, Ed, Al, Pinako, and Den we have more for Armony and Uncle Eiselstien. There might be more, but we'll have to see really when we get to Central and IronTown. That is, if you guys'll come with us." Hazel said happily and the two nodded.

"Of course! That's a great idea!" Winry said with a gleeful smile.

"Wow. You guys sure have lots of presents. It makes me want to go out and buy you guys some too even though it's already passed. I'm sure everyone will be so happy to see you! A lot of stuff has been going on lately!" Winry then exclaimed happily.

"Get this! Mustang fnially got himself a wife, and kids!" Ed joked when he and Al were finished with the firewood. They walked over, and Li-san moved over to snuggle up with Al who agreed happily with a smile.

"Oh? Who! Who! I bet you anyhin' it's Hawkeye! Am I right am I am I am I?!" Li-san happily cried and Ed sweatdropped.

"Yup it's Hawkeye. Go figure right?" Ed said with a laugh and everyone smiled. Suddenly though, Li-san and Hazel's eyes went wide.

"K-Kids?! THEY HAVE CHILDREN?!" they cried in unison.

"MY GOD!" Li-san cried in a spasmodic tone with her eyes being like this: o.O

"HOW MANY?!" Hazel cried in amazement, tears streaming down her face in joy and in a little bit of envy. After all, Mustang was her favorite character back in the Real World.

"Um... One boy and two girls. The boy is about 8 right now and the two girls are twins being 5. Umm...you'll see them at Central." Ed finished with a few sweatdrops.

"Cool! I can't believe it! What else do you got for us?!" Hazel exclaimed.

"Oh! I visited Hughes and his family a while back, and Elicia has a new baby brother!" Winry said with a snap.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw! KAWAIIIIIII!" the two girls squealed.

"Anythin' else?!" Li-san cried.

"OH! ARMSTRONG HAS AN AFFRO NOW!" Ed randomly said and the two girls stared at him like they had seen a ghost. Li-san's eyes became blank pupils that bulged, and she started to shudder while Hazel had her eye twitching non-stop.

"A...A..Affro?... ARMSTRONG?!" Li-san finally choked out to say, shuddering even more as she pictured Armstrong with an affro. _'Affro Armstrong... Scary thoughts scary thoughts!'_ Li-san thought to herself . ;;

"NO WAY! THAT CAN'T BE POSSIBLE!! CAN IT?!" Hazel cried. _'Find a happy place find a happy place!'_ she thought to herself o.O -twitch- There was a moment of silence, and Ed burst out laughing uncontrollably, rolling on the floor laughing his ass off. Al had a sweatdrop, Winry's eyes were narrowed to the point where they were just lines, and Hazel and Li could feel a vein pop.

"HECK NO! OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU BELIEVED ME! OH MAN YOU TWO SHOULDA SEEN YOUR FACES! THAT. WAS. PRICELESS!" Ed cried and cried but suddenly stopped when he saw looming shadows over him. He dared to open one eye, and then bulged when he saw Li and Hazel over him, cracking their knuckles and having dark colors behind them.

"You're so in for it now, Shrimp." Li-san said through grit teeth.

"Shorty. Shorty McShortShorts." Hazel cursed bitterly. _'I got that from Disney Channel... Haha!'_ Hazel thought.

"SHORT-**EE**?" Ed twitched, bolding the 'EE'.

"YESSS.. SHORTY!" the two said in unison.

"WHY I OUGHTTA-" Ed started but was shushed by two fists in his face as he flew backwards on the floor, knocking into the couch.

**"KAREGANAGASNA!"** the two roared and charged after Ed who could tell it wasn't the right time to provoke the two girls. **AT ALL.** (**Translation to Kareganagasna (sp? i'm not sure of but!) **it means Don't Screw Around!)

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Ed screamed at the top of his lungs as the scene went to the outside of the house, showing only vibrations as if an earthquake had just happened. In a few moments later, there was silence. The scene turned back to the inside of the house to see Li-san calmly sipping some tea while Hazel asked happily, "Is there anything else that we should be informed about?" Ed was in the backround, in his blob form with only one strand of hair as his soul seemed to be leaving his poor shrimpy (Ed: HEY!) ... er, his poor _manly_ (Ed: -smirks proudly-) body.

"Not that we know of...sorry." Winry replied with a few sweatdrops and the two girls sulked. When Ed regained conciousness, he joined the group once more. As he sat down, his present was thrown to him. He stared at it, and so did Winry when she got hers and Al the same. As Ed opened his first, his eye sparkled and tears flowed down his face.

"OHMYGOD! HIGHER ELEVATOR SHOES!" Ed said, almost squeeing like a little girl! (o.o) As he quickly put it on, he ordered Al to stand up. When Al did, Ed did as well and smirked as he was taller! "I'M FINALLY TALLL!" Ed cried happily as he ran around the house, feeling so proud and..tall. As Winry opened hers, she too squeed in joy as she examined al of her new tools. She gave Li and Hazel a hug and rushed to her room to try out her new _toys_. It was Als turn now, and when he opened it he gasped in surprise and took out the little kitten.

"OH MY GOODNESS! A KITTY! I KNOW! I'LL NAME--...Is it a he or she?" Al asked.

"Girl." Li said.

"I WILL NAME HER LIL LI!" Al said triumphantly and the kitten mewed. Li-san was happy with this choice, and laughed happily. When everyone finalyl settled, they all came back to the family room. Back onto another subject, Hazel was still curious about the new neighbors and with Ed being apparently alive he would be able to answer.

"So Ed! You were saying about new neighbors? We wanna know." Hazel said with a laugh.

"Oh yeah...You don' know them but they were two messed up siblings who pretended to be Al and me just for fame and to continue their dad's research. The older brother is Al's age, he goes by the name of Russell Tringham and his younger brother is named Fletcher. They normally stop by to say hello and join us for dinner. Truth's like they've become part of the family." Ed said with a frown.

"Why do you not like that?" Li-san asked, puzzled.

"Truth's not that we don't..Ed here just still has some steam from four years ago cause Russell is still taller than him." Al said and sweatdropped when a cushon from the couch was thrown in his face.

"Hey! Ed! Truth's not nice to throw things at Al!" Li-san roared and pointed her mini canon at him.

"Okay okay I take it back! Yeesh!" Ed cried with his eyes bulging out of his head.

"That's what I thought you said." Li-san hissed and then sat back down. After a while, everyone continued to chat merrily until Pinako called them for dinner. As everyone entered the small dining room, almost everyone's mouth watered.

"FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!" Li-san roared and waved her hands in the air happily. In front of them were loads of food! There was turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, christmas cake, candy, chocolate goodies, stew with chicken chunks in them, blueberry and raspberry pie, and last but not least, Candy Canes!

"Down Li down!" Hazel snapped and slapped Li-san on the hand.

"Owee!" Li-san cried and then whimpered.

"Loser. We're 18 now, act like it!" Hazel steamed.

"No we!-- Oh yeah we are sorry ev'ryone I keep thinking that I'm still 14 hehh..." Li-san said with a sweatdrop. _'Phew!...THAT was a close one...' _Li and Hazel thought. Everyone laughed and then sat down for dinner. After dinner had been done with, at about 8:30 everyone decided to wind down. Truth was strange...for Hazel that is... She felt so uncomfortable when she saw how Li-san snuggled up into Al's arms as he wrapped them around her waist in a hug, and how Winry put her head on Ed's shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her in a hug. She began to fidget in her seat, watching the time go by. She felt like crying at that point, so left out. She was about to cry when the doorbell rang, and she immediately rushed up to it to prevent anyone from seeing her.

"I'll get it Pinako!" Hazel said and went up to the door.

"Who is it?" Hazel asked.

"Why don't you open the door to find out? I take it you're visiting the Elrics as well, due to your voice is not familiar to me." a low and dark voice from the other side of the door smirked. Hazel seemed to have a vein pop. _'Smartass? Ooooooh yeah.'_ Hazel thought to herself and opened the door. She gasped slightly in amazement, and felt herself fluster at the person standing right in front of her, a half grin on his face. He had golden colored hair a little bit lighter than Ed's, with some of his bangs covering his right eye. His eye color was a beautiful sparkling blue, and he seemed to have grown his hair down to his neck, which seemed to make him look amazingly H.O.T! In Hazel's case that is... The boy smirked again with his smartassy smile and tone. Hazel seemed to lost for words, it was like a romantic moment for her! Everything seemed to stop, and she felt herself swoon over this guy. What would happen next? Would he be the prince charming she was imagining right now? Truth all depended really of what would happen next as the two stood there in the doorway.

A/N: yup! i must be famous for that now! but i'm sure all of ya know who's at the door. anywayz, how was the first chapter of my sequel guys? be sure to leave a review so i know how u like it! i'll update soon too i promise! as soon as i get some more good ideas in my head! XD anywayz, again, plz leave a review to let me know how this sequel's beginning is going, and hopefully if u didn't like this chapter :( then i'll make sure to make the next one even better! also i will give out a hint that there will be like, even though early, a sequence where there's good against evil, and after that it'll run smoothly again. just to start the story out again i thought that would be okay... anywyz! i'll update soon and leave a review! thanks to all my readers and reviewers! -Em

P.S.- is it just me, or is it too FUNNY to picture Armstrong with an affro? I found it hilarious when I was typing that. rofl! (Hazel: it's not funny! IT'S FREEAAKY!)


	2. A Boyfriend For Hazel? Prince Charming?

A/N: fixed up some more errors involving snow... anyways it's still the same just no snow lol. plz R&R

**Chapter 2: A Boyfriend For Hazel? Prince Charming, Maybe?**

There they stood, right there in the doorway. Hazel thought that she was looking at a prince he was so handsome! Wow, what a coincidence that a stranger would just ring the doorbell and she would answer it to have someone so handsome standing in the doorway! She had forgotten the fact that she knew this boy because he had looked so familiar. The happy moment ended when he spoke after a couple of seconds that went by as she was still in the doorway staring at him.

"What the hell? What, are you just gonna _stand there_ or move out of the way so I can come in?" he said with a grin and Hazel's face darkened, flames in the backround. Okay, so...not romantic moment. Especially after that kind of insult! What was she, a little kid? Or a woman? She could come up with a comeback easy as that!

"Well...your mom." she said. The boy gave her a questioning look while raising a brow.

"...What _about_ my mom?" he asked sounding a little annoyed, and she blushed. _'Oh, right... This is Fullmetal world and modern day insults don't really take its toll here! Goodness I just made a fool out of myself! And worse!! I just insulted his mother!'_ Hazel thought as streams of tears rushed down her chibi face in her mind, and finally, slapped herself mentally.

"Oh uh...nevermind, forget it." she said with a sigh and then realized he pushed her out of the way!

"H-hey!" Hazel cried, outraged. She could hear the boy sigh and then turn around irritated.

"What is it now?" he asked rudely.

"Listen up bub, don't you dare treat me like a little kid all right?! And don't you dare treat me like some person you can just spit on and stuff! I have you know I'm the famous Bullseye Alchemist, and if I wanted to I could shoot your head off right now!" Hazel warned. At this, the group in the family room heard this and went to investigate on what was going on.

"Oh really? Well if you did that then where would that put you? Let's see now...hm, treason. Murder, what else... Jail perhaps? Maybe a sentence for death?" he countered and she blushed and flamed.

"WELL I NEVER MET AN INSOLENT BRATTY FIGISMUCKING BOY LIKE YOU! DIDN'T YOUR PARENTS EVER TEACH YOUR MANNERS?!" Hazel steamed.

"No. Not really. I learned myself. And what the hell does Figismucking mean?" the boy asked. When Hazel didn't answer he just shrugged, and walked away. The group who were eavesdropping and peeking out in the corner as the boy walked into the kitchen. Hazel sighed loudly, and then bowed her head, gritting her teeth. Man oh man...she had never met anyone so...so arrogant! SO! SO! _MALE!_ (a/n: nothin against you males out there reading this... don't take it offensively plz!) Suddenly, she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned to see a younger boy by one age with yellow hair sort of sticking out of places. He had blue eyes as well that sparkled, and a smile that was so kawaii! She wondered if this boy was the irritating older boy's brother.

"Excuse me miss... Please excuse the rudeness of my older brother. He can get kind of frustrating sometimes...but he means well! You just..gotta know him ya know? Again, sorry for the inconvenience and all... Bye." the boy said with a bow and went to join his brother. Hazel watched with black little beady clueless eyes as the younger boy rushed over to his older brother, and saw both of them greeting Pinako happily. _'Oh so he's nice to Pinako but rude to me! What the Figismucking?! Hm..I should know though that that is Russell and Fletcher...He's supposed to be like that I guess..'_ Hazel thought angrily and Li-san walked over to where Hazel was. (a/n: anyone figure out what figismucking means yet? XP)

"Hey, you okay Ane-san?" Li-san asked warily as she put a hand on Hazel's shoulder. Hazel's only response was looking at Li-san and then roaring like a dragon with flames coming out of her mouth. Li-san's arm immediately turned to ashes, and Li-san backed away slowly. Hazel then sighed, and then made note to Li-san that is was all right to come over.

"I'm..all right. But dammit all that boy owes me an apology big time!" Hazel steamed.

"Don't you think you're overreacting Hazel? That and a little...'not letting it go' kinda person? I saw you checkin him out." Li-san half sneered and Hazel blushed bright red looking down at the ground.

"Shaddup! I'm gonna march over there and say to him to apologize!" Hazel said, determined.

"Oh really? Well, here's your chance. He walking over to us right now." Li-san said and gave Hazel a little push as she bumped into the guy.

Hazel squeaked a little, and then looked up at the boy who looked down at her with a very very irritated look on his face.

"_NOW WHAT?"_ he asked angrily, ready to boil.

"I...I uh...I.." Hazel started.

"Yeah?" the boy asked, tapping his foot.

"Uhh..." Hazel tried to keep going.

_"Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?"_ the boy asked, eye twitching out of aggrivation. The boy behind him seemed to sweatdrop, a pointy frown on his face. He didn't like the looks of this.

"Well I uh I--"

"Oh forget this! C'mon bro, let's get outta here." the older boy huffed and pushed out of the way, knocking Hazel out of the way slightly. That was the final straw so far for Hazel, and she immediately grabbed his arm and twirled him around to face her.

"Now hold on just a minute buster! I demand an apology!" Hazel cried, anger in her eyes.

"Apology? For what? Standing in the way in the doorway when I was wanting to get in and out of the frickin snow?!" the boy growled.

"Brother!" the younger boy cried in defense.

"Russell! Was that neccessary?!" Ed roared angrily. So Hazel's guess was right, this was Russell, except when he was 18. Hazel was silent now, she seemed to be giving up. _'Maybe I shouldnt've said anything further... He is kinda cute...'_ Hazel thought to herself as her lip quivered a little bit with her bangs covering her eyes. She started to shake a little.

"Hey...you...okay?" he asked her, alarmed and placed a hand on her shoulder. She immediately pulled away and slapped him hard on the face, knocking him down onto the ground.

"FIRST YOU INSULT ME, PRACTICALLY EMBARRASS ME, AND THEN YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO ASK ME IF I'M **OKAY?! DOES THIS LOOK LIKE 'OKAY' TO YOU?! WELL?! DOES IT!!!!!**" Hazel burst, tears running down her face as it was beet red. He blinked several times, before answering.

"Maybe you should go see a psychiatrist (sp?)." he said with his eyes narrowed, and that was all that she could take. Her lip quivered again, and then she rushed out the door slamming the door open and running into the thunderstorm. The boy got up and brushed himself up all to be pushed back down onto the ground.

"I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY! WHAT A BASTARD YOU ARE!" Li-san shouted and then raced out after Hazel. Russell felt a vein pop as he got up.

"God...what was _their_ problem? Especially that dirty blonde's? When I see that black haired girl again I'm gonna give her a piece of my mind." he growled under his breath, and then saw everyone stare at him with saddened and aggrivated eyes.

"Don't you think you overdid it Russell? I mean, couldn't you see that Hazel had a crush on you?" Ed said, angered and upset.

"So that's her name huh? Hmph. Not my fault she kept pressing my buttons." Russell said with a huff.

"Brother! How can you be so rude?!" Russell's younger brother said with a frown and raced off after the two girls. The group was silent for a moment, and he stared at them and finally sighed as he began to fluster slightly, scratching the back of his head guiltily.

"Hmph...Fine, _fine_. I'll go after them all... I guess I, did go overboard." Russell said silently, and closed the door behind him. The group stared down at the ground for a moment, and then back at the door. Lil Li made a mew, and walked over to Al as she purred. He picked her up and laughed with a smile on his face.

"You must like your present Al. A kitten is what you've always wanted. But make sure now, she's your responsibility." Winry said as she waggled a finger.

"I know I know. I'm just so happy she's back.." Al said with a smile.

"You guys must really be in love. After all this time.. By now I thought you woulda gotten yourself another girlfriend." Ed said with a slight smile on his face. He had a questioned look on for a minute when Al smiled sadly.

"Yeah...I thought about that too when I waited a long time for her to come back. I mean, I know I probably made the right decision for her...telling her she didn't belong here. I was glad she went back home... but when I was waiting for her Brother, I began to lose hope. I began to think that she would never return, she said herself that there was no alchemy on their side. Truth is, a lot of times when I went out on missions I ran into a lot of pretty ladies who wanted me as their boyfriend, and a lot of the times I wanted to say yes..." Al started and Ed couldn't help but have his mouth agape slightly.

"Except...every time I wanted to, I could always remember Li's face smiling. I couldn't get her out of my head, not once. Our bond could never break even if I went out with other girls and all... Sometimes I even wondered if she had gotten a new boyfriend and had forgotten me... The thing is, I was so surprised and amazed when I saw that same clueless and go lucky face staring blankly at mine until something hit her in the head. I was so happy when I saw her, held her in my arms again...knowing that this wasn't a dream." Al said with a happy smile.

"Oh Alphonse I..didn't know you felt like this. I mean, I knew sometimes it got harder to believe and all that they were coming back but...I didn't think that you were..such a... such a-" Ed started and stopped.

"Such a what, Brother?" Al asked with a questionable look on his face.

"Such a dog, you! You and the ladies! I didn't think you had it in you bro!" Ed joked and gave Al a knuckle sandwhich. Al couldn't help but laugh with a hearty smile. When Ed grinned his famous one that girls would just swoon over, it was Al's turn to play a joke on his dear Brother.

"True. Very true Brother, in fact I did have my heart at one time set on Winry." Al said with his eyes narrowed and a sly smile on his face, making Ed's face turne red.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Ed steamed with a loud shout.

"Kidding Brother, kidding!" Al squeaked slightly, and Ed seemed to settle slightly. Winry sweatdropped and she shrugged her shoulders.

"It's true what they say. Boys will be boys." she joked with a laugh.

Li-san searched through the storm, she seemed to be running for at least an hour now. She heard footsteps in the distance, and whirled around to see the little brother of Russell standing before her.

"I thought you could use some help." he said with a smile and Li-san smiled back. As the two walked along for a bit, Li-san stopped and wanted to get to know the boy better.

"So you're the brother of Russell huh? What's your name?" Li-san asked kindly. The boy seemed to fluster just a little bit.

"My name is Fletcher Tringham. I hope that my brother wasn't that rude... I know he can go overboard sometimes." Fletcher said guiltily.

"Ah, not your fault. I bet you anythin' this is the start to a B-E-A-U-tiful relationship!" Li-san said with a laugh as the two traveled through the storm together.

"R-really? How can you tell? Your friend seemed really mad back there." Fletcher asked, surprised.

"Trust me. I know Hazel. She might've been mad at your brother, but really underneath it all I bet you anythin' she wants him to feel guilty so he can go out and find her." Li-san pointed out as she grinned with a snicker and a snap of her finger.

"Oh..." Fletcher said and the two pressed on. As they walked, he asked, "Then why are we out here?" Li-san was silent for a moment, and a sweatdropped formed.

"Uh...no idea... hehh... Seemed like a good idea when I first ran out the door..." Li-san laughed nervously and Fletcher had a sweatdrop behind his head. Li-san laughed again, but then sighed heavily.

"Now that I think about it...Maybe I shoulda brought an extra coat with me..." she said with a sigh.

"I'm sure it's not that cold. Don't worry we'll find her before we get soaking wet." Fletcher reassured her and she nodded happily, but then squeaked when a loud crackle was heard in the sky. Lightning shot, and thunder boomed.

"Ooooooookay! Let's get goin' Fletch!" Li-san cried and practically grabbed his hand and made a run for it! She just hated Thunderstorms!

Russell growled under his breath as he came to a stop in the rain. he sighed, and panted for breath. How hard was it to find a girl probably somewhere far away? Oh yeah...VERY HARD. _'Damnit all... Why did I become the bad guy? Hmph...to make matters worse I'm getting soaked to the bone..'_ Russell thought to himself with his eyes narrowed, and then blinked a couple of times when he noticed a shadowy figure beside a tree, crouching down low with the person's back to the tree.

He trudged over to the shadow, and placed his hand on the person's shadow, making the teen jump with a start as aqua-green eyes stared into crystal blue ones. His mouth opened slightly out of surprise, and then he sighed with guilty eyes staring at the snow. The teen blinked a couple of times, and then sniffed once to make his attention focus back on her.

As Fletcher and Li-san still basically ran through the rain, they had no luck in finding Hazel. Still, they didn't give up at all and continued their pursuit.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZEEEEEEEEEEEEEL!" Li-san shouted for about 20 seconds, and Fletcher's eyes were bulged slightly.

"How can you do that?! It's...It's not normal!" Fletcher couldn't help but cry in astonishment. Li-san, not hearing his question before, took in another deep breath and then shouted loudly, **"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL!"** When she turned to Fletcher, he seemed pretty pale and deaf by the time she noticed.

"Huh? Fletcher? Didja say something? I didn' hear you." Li-san said innocently and Fletcher let out a looooong sigh.

"How can you yell that loudly, and that long?! It's not possible!" Fletcher asked. Li-san couldn't help but blush out of embarrassment and out of the somewhat, compliment.

"Trust me Fletch, it takes lots of practice with the lungs I got." Li-san couldn't help but brag, but then coughed slightly as Fletcher gave her a pat on the back.

"Hey are you okay?!" Fletcher asked in alarm. Li-san took in another deep breath, and nodded happily.

"Yup yup! No worries it's just my asthma." Li-san said as she waved her hands up and down. Fletcher turned pale by now, and ran around her in circles.

"ASTHMA?! WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO NOW?! DON'T YOU KNOW IT'S BAD FOR PEOPLE WITH ASTHMA TO BE OUT IN A RAINSTORM, NO. **THUNDERSTORM**LIKE THIS?! WHAT ARE YOU CRAZY?! DON'T YOU HAVE AN INHALER OR SOMETHING WITH YOU SO YOU DON'T HAVE A HEART ATTACK?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS SOONER!!!" Fletcher cried and Li-san grabbed a hold of him, a lone sweatdrop ran down her head.

"Fletch, reeeeeelaaaaaaaaaaaaax. I'm perfectly fine. Now c'mon we still need to find Hazel." Li-san said, her eyes narrowed slightly with dark lines under her eye.

"O...okay... Sorry for spazzing out like that.." Fletcher said with a sweatdrop. As the two continued their search, they wondered how far they must have been since it was getting hard to see by the minute as the storm began to pick up. When they finally were both out of breath, they looked around to try and see if they could spot anything that looked like civilization. When there was no luck, with a sigh Li-san turned around the Fletcher and he stared at her with a blank stare.

"So um...wanna go back?" Li-san asked. Fletcher felt like his dream had come true, they were finally going back to the Rockbells! Besides, if they had no luck he was sure his brother would be all right in finding Hazel, if Li-san's hunch about the two being in love was correct.

"O-okay! Yeah let's go!" Fletcher cried, and then his eyes went blank with a strange smile on his face. He then frowned slightly, going into a chibi form of a sad pose.

"But uh...Li which way did we come?.." Fletcher asked.

"Uhhh...I don't know I just ran... but uh, Oh yeah Th-this way!" Li-san cried and they trudged back to, hopefully, where the Rockbell's house was. Along the way, Fletcher stopped and sneezed, his cheeks starting to fluster. Li-san walked over to Fletcher, and put a hand on his forehead, and at this he grew even more red! He really liked Li the first time he had seen her at the Rockbell's house... Was it strange to have a crush on a girl who was two years older than he was? He wasn't sure, but if she was single he'd ask her out any time!

"Fletcher! You're really burning up! Hey did you like, catch it already in this rainstorm?! We'd better get out of it, fast! Come to think of it, we're already soaked to the bone as it is!" Li-san said and took Fletcher by the hand, rushing around the snow with him following behind. In a while, they found a house with lights lit up.

"Li-san! That must be the Rockbell's house! Let's go before I start to--to---ah---achoo!" Fletcher started and stopped with a sneeze.

"Yeah you're right. Hm.. To be honest any house would be fine! Besides I lost my sense of direction a long time ago! We'd better get there fast to tend to your cold. It's bad luck to have a cold on Christmas Eve after all." Li-san joked and they rushed over to the house. When they got closer, they realized that it was a different house. Now they clearly didn't know where they were.

"Now what do we do Li?" Fletcher asked, uncertain of what would happen next.

"Hm...Only one way to find out." Li-san said and knocked on the door. They waited for a while, and when the door opened an elderly man looked up at them and smiled.

"My my, visitors. What can I do for you fine young kids? It must be very cold outside, do come in come in." he said with a smile and they accepted happily. When they came inside, they looked around in silence slightly. They saw many doctor equipment in cabinents, and both assumed he was a doctor. It didn't take the man long to come back, and when he did Li-san raised a hand up in the air.

"Yes dear? What is it? You don't need to raise your hand, I mean, I'm pretty sure you're not still in school heheh." the old man chuckled slightly.

"Sir, I don't mean to be rude but are you a doctor perhaps? My friend has a major cold and I just want it to be taken of.." Li-san asked.

"Heheheh. Just so happens that I am a doctor miss. My name is Doctor Anderson Velshtien, but you can just call me Dr. Velshtien, also known as the Healing Alchemist." he said with a smile.

"You're an alchemist?! So am I! I'm known as the SoulFire Alchemist!" Li-san cried happily. Dr. Velshtien couldn't help but smile.

"Marvelous! Well, I used to be a state alchemist back in my day but, I'm a little bit preoccupied at the moment." Dr. Velshtien said with a smile. Li-san could sort of tell, she guessed that he was...hmmm, around 55 perhaps? Still, they were in luck...a little bit too much luck maybe? The next thing Li knew she was raising her hand up in the air remembering that probably by now if Hazel was found, they were worried about her and Fletcher.

"Yes my dear? I told you you don't have to raise your hand. Though at my age I'm sure it's respectful, still, what is it?" Dr. Velshtien asked.

"Oh ahahha... Doctor, do you have a phone?" Li-san asked right after she shot her hand back down to her side with Fletcher giggling a little.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Russell's blue eyes met those of Hazel's once more, and she immediately stood up. _'I'm not letting you get away from me this time.'_ he thought and grabbed her arm in an attempt to make her stand still without any struggling.

"Let me go! I can report you for abuse you know!" Hazel roared and tried to slap him but had no luck. As her hand struck, Russell caught it and now she felt like she had become a prisoner to him.

"Just listen to me for a moment will ya?!" Russell countered but Hazel didn't listen. She didn't want to listen to him anymore. Somehow she felt that he would just give out insults.

"Why should I listen to you?! Smartasses like yourselves always have time to criticize and insult others who aren't in their rank! You really think after all of those torturous insults back there I'd really listen to what you'd have to sa-" Hazel started but her eyes went wide as all of a sudden Russell's lips pressed against hers as he gave her a kiss. She began to accept and let his tongue dance with hers, but then stopped herself mentally with a slap and then physically pushed him away immediately right after. He stared at her, his facial expression was calm and collected.

"Listen to me for a moment, please." he pleaded and Hazel felt half guilty by then. She nodded, and he smiled.

"I uh...I'm sorry about all of that ruccuss back there. I didn't really mean any of those hurtful things I was saying to you. That's just...how I am sometimes you know? Once I get started it's...hard for me to stop I guess... I'm sorry. Do you forgive me, Hazel?" he asked her. She blinked a couple of times, and then blushed.

"I..I...yeah, I forgive you, Russell." Hazel said with a smile and grinned.

When Hazel least expected it, Russell pulled her closer to him. She was a little surprised for a moment, but let him do all of the talking. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and pulled him even closer to his chest. She could feel he was strong indeed, and wrapped her arms around his waist, waiting for his invitation. He removed one arm from her waist, and brought his hand to her chin. He drew her closer to his lips, and she could feel herself receive goosebumps just waiting for this kiss! She closed her eyes slowly, and watched as he did the same. All at once, their lips met, and colors of love flew. Hazel felt like she was burning up! Filled with excitement made herself want more of him in this kiss, and she made sure they locked on to eachother for a while. A few moments passed, and finally the two broke away. Russell was blushing like no tommorow now as he put his hand behind his head sheepishly, and Hazel had to look at the white snow to try and calm down and make herself cool and collected. When the two were finally settled, they looked at one another and the backround seemed to become just plain pink. (a/n: anyone besides me think it's now officially more than love? -smirks- i hope hazel likes how i did that scene, i tried my best! now if i can do better than that for a love scene with al and li... -snickers and smirks-)

"Well uh...um, wow. I've...never really... Wow." was all Russell could say really.

"Ha... Yeah I know, right? So umm...Russell... You-...You're ah..." Hazel started but couldn't find the right words.

"Huh? I'm...what?" Russell asked with a grin on his face.

"A uh...Good kisser... and um, well uh... just...amazing haha.." Hazel said. _'That was so stupid of me...Good kisser? Come on Hazel you coulda said something more romantic than **that!**'_ Hazel thought to herself as she smacked herself mentally. She looked at him and he started to laugh.

"Haha! Thanks... You're a...good kisser too." he said happily. The two blushed a little more, and then Russell grinned again as he took her by the hand. She looked up at him again, that same smartassy smile on his face made her melt. Come to think of it, his smile always made her melt really...

"I uh, guess this means we're boyfriend girlfriend. If that's all right with you." Russell said with a grin.

"O-of course!" Hazel answered quickly.

"Great! It's now official! You and I are soulmates! Ha!" Russell said happily and blushed brighter.

"Y-yeah..." she said and suddenly, she began to lose her eyesight. _'Whoa...what the--what's going on with me? I feel...all woozy...'_ Hazel thought to herself and blinked a couple of times, trying to snap herself out of this transe she had.

"Okay, let's get back to---hey! Hazel are you okay?!" Russell asked in a concerned tone when all of a sudden Hazel fell foward onto his chest, and he was very surprised. He felt her head, and realized she was burning up!

"OH CRUD!" Russell cried and covered her with the coat he was wearing, picking her up in his arms and covering the both of them. He rushed through the storm as water pitter pattered around him, beads of sweat combined with some water droplets ran down his face, hoping to get back to the Rockbell's as soon as possible to treat her sickness quick! _'Oh man! I hope Mrs. Rockbell still has some of her stew left! Edward you had better not eat all of it before I get back!' _Russell thought through grit teeth as he ran faster through the rain. As he began to see some lights, he rushed through the door and was glad his hunch was right. It was the Rockbell's home.

"QUICK! MRS. ROCKBELL GRAB A BOWL OF YOUR STEW! HAZEL'S GOTTEN A FEVER!" Russell cried and rushed Hazel to the couch. She had her eyes replaced with swirlies as her face was red. When Pinako came over with the stew, Hazel seemed to be in pain slightly, panting a little bit. Russell managed to have her open her mouth so she could have to stew. When all of it was finished, she opened her eyes wearily to see the concerned '_Prince Charming' _standing over her. She smiled slightly, and he grinned.

"Idiot. You had me worried there for a moment." he said and politely, gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"I'm sorry...forgive me?" Hazel asked playfully and he gave her another kiss on the cheek.

"What exactly happened out in that snowstorm Russell?" Ed asked, a glint appearing in his eye.

"Hey, can it short stuff." Russell snapped with his eyes narrowed and Ed flared.

"Don' call me short! I've grown for your info!" Ed roared.

"Not by my watch." Russell said and stood up. He was still taller than Ed by a few inches. Hazel laughed as she got up slightly, and looked around.

"Say...where's Fletcher and Li-san?" she asked, worried about their whereabouts. She still felt a little sick, as she was still flustered around her cheeks and face, but all she cared about now was mainly Li.

"Last time I saw them, they took off looking for you Hazel." Ed said. At this, she felt like her fever had gone away, and it was replaced with panic as reality-...well, half reality struck her. (u get what i mean, right?)

"They must still be out in the snowstorm! Oh no this is terrible! WHAT IF THEY TURN INTO ICESICLES?!" Hazel spazzed and ran around the house screaming her head off as Russell tried to calm her down. As she ran around the house frantically, the phone rang. By this time, Pinako and Den had gone to bed since the time now was getting late. Winry picked it up, and heard Li-san on the other side.

"Oh Li-san! Glad you're safe... Sooo you're where?"

(Russell in backround with sweatdrops, waving hands up in the air: Hazel calm down will you?! I'm sure they're fine!)

"Uh-huh..."

(Hazel in backround as she rushes around the house in chibi form: **Oh no what do I do! What if she's dying out there!!! OR WORSE! HAVING AN ASTHMA ATTACK! NO WAIT, FREEZING TO DEATH! OH GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE!**)

"Uh-huh...and Fletcher's with you?"

(Ed in backround flaming: HAZEL STOP RUNNING! I CAN'T KEEP UP THAT FAST!)

"Okay then. Yup, when the storm stops and it's light outside come back soon. You shouldn't be too far away.."

(Hazel in backround waving hands up and down with a river of tears flying: **WHAT TO DO WHAT TO DO WHAT TO DO! LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!**)

"You want Al to what?"

(Russell in backround: Hazel please! Settle down I can assure you that everythin's gonna be okay! I'll even go out to look for her if you want!)

". . .Oh okay no problem we'll give Lil Li some milk."

(Al in backround with sweatdrops as he is grinning nervously: Can we all just settle down? Hazel I'm sure Li's okay, she's strong she'll make it!)

"Okay then, yup we'll feed Lil Li. She's probably starving by now, so no worries."

(Ed in backround: Well Al I don't see you doing anythin' besides just sitting there with that dumbfounded look on your face!)

"See you soon. Bye."

(Al in backround: B-brother! That's so...mean! T.T )

"Hm? Hm... I'll tell them--oh? You have this weird instinct telling you you're bunking in with a _creepy doctor who's an alchemist_? You want us to what?" (Ed in backround: Well do something then! I'm outta breath as it is anyways!)

(Al in backround/eye twitch/ Fine! I will do something! -marches up to where Hazel is-)

"Okay..we'll do that. Okay, bye." Winry said and put the phone down. She turned to the group who were shouting the whole entire time. Winry's eye twitched, and she yelled at the top of her lungs.

**"WILL EVERYONE JUST PLEASE SHUT THE HELL UP AND LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY!"** she roared, and everyone was silent at that.

"Hazel you don't need to worry about Li and Fletcher. They're both fine, they're staying at a doctor's house that's a little bit away from where we are now. Fletcher caught a cold while they were out in the storm so they stumbled upon the doctor's home. They're gonna stay there until the storm clears up which should be tommorow." Winry said and faced away from them slightly after, lowering her voice to a slight low whisper.

"Also...Li wants us to look up this alchemist. I think we should call Mustang and ask about a man by the name of Dr. Velshtien who is also known as the Healing Alchemist... Anyways, if you'll all excuse me I have something to attend to." Winry explained, and they all watched her grab Al's present and rush upstairs with it and slam her bedroom door. They were all silent for a few moments, and then Hazel smiled brightly.

"Well that's a relief." she said happily and everyone fell on the floor with their feet up, twitching slightly. Hazel had a question mark above her head.

"What? Was it something I said? Was it?..." Hazel asked and there was no answer. Oh well she had said to herself because she was happy. She was glad that Li-san was all right, and even more happy that now, in Fullmetal World, she had a boyfriend! This Christmas would be the best ever! And the best part was, that when Li-san got back she, Al, Ed, Winry, and probably Russell and Fletcher would join them to journey to Central to give out all the gifts they had bought for everyone at Central! Could these weeks get any better? Oooooooooooooooooooooh yeaaaah...

Still...what was this about the doctor they were staying with? Weird feeling Li had? Hazel knew that with Li's bad instinct working in, she would be in trouble for the night, and conflict would approach. Maybe she spoke too soon by asking if these weeks would get better...

"Well, you heard Winry. It's time to call good ol' Mustang." Ed grimaced slightly, and dialed the number to call the famous Flame Alchemist.


	3. What About Fletcher?

A/N: okay! here's chapter 3! I hope it's a good one too and all..and that's why i'm sorta rushing the fighting scene and bad guy scene sortaish cause i wanna get to like, the hughes family and the newest sibling to elicia and also to central to see riza and roys son and daughters! anywyz! here's chappie 3 and i hope u lke it again so ummm...arigatou and plz R&R! -Em

**Disclaimer:** I /beeep/ **OWN** FMA! WHOO HOO!! (secret service appear out of nowhere, surrounding me and my manga books) Uh...What I MEANT TO SAY! was that...sadly, I don't own FMA but I would LIKE TO OWN IT! it all goes to Hiromu Arakawa. (secret service leave) however! This sequel story of mine belongs to me -smirks- just not the show or like, the original story which makes me sad... anywayz! Onward! HAZAH!

**Special Guest:** Dr. Velshtien a.k.a the Healing Alchemist

**Chapter 3: What About Fletcher?**

As Li-san and Fletcher looked around the small hut they had found in the storm after the phone call, they saw not too many possessions the doctor had; only materials and such a doctor needed. Still, they were curious and walked around together, staying close just in case. I mean, wouldn't you be curious too if you entered a stranger's home? Especially in the middle of a snowstorm?

"Hey it looks like we hit a jackpot Fletch. Now we can get you some medicine for your cold. Even better, he's a doctor and ex-state alchemist." Li-san said with a smile. She wouldn't let her hunch get the better of her, they still needed to fix up Fletcher of his cold. Even though it was a little strange for an old geezer to live out here by himself and accept two strangers **who were teenagers** just stay at his house..**For The Night**... Creepy thoughts ran through her mind, but she shook it off when Fletcher turned to him with an awkward smile on.

"O-okay." Fletcher replied nervously. Dr. Velshtien came over with a bin filled with hot water and a cloth in his hands.

"Here you go my boy, this will hopefully make your cold go down a bit. It will also warm you up. Hehehheh." Dr. Velshtien laughed heartily, and Fletcher accepted with a bow.

"Now then, both of you wait here while I go make you my boy some soup. Now, just so we all know eachother, what are your names?" Dr. Velshtien asked kindly.

"My name's Li-san Yamanaka." Li said happily.

"And I'm Fletcher Tringham." Fletcher said with a grin.

"Ah! You're the son of Nash! I thought you beared some resemblance to him! He was an excellent alchemist, one of the best in my days! Why, he was my good friend back in the day when we both worked together by using alchemy. So how is he these days, hm?" Dr. Velshtien asked. Fletcher was silent for a moment, and Li was beginning to worry. He finally answered quietly with a short frown on his face.

"Oh well... He-He died a long time ago sir..." Fletcher answered and Dr. Velshtien seemed a little disappointed.

"Oh dear...I'm sorry my boy." Dr. Velshtien apologized and Fletcher grinned nervously saying it was all right.

"So Mr. er--Dr. Velshtien, my friend here as you know has a cold and um, you think he'll be good as new by tommorow?" Li-san asked and the doctor nodded happily.

"Of course. Now both of you wait here as I get the soup ready, and he'll be good as new overnight!" he said with a smile and got to work in the kitchen preparing the soup for Fletcher. As the two waited in the dining room, both were quiet, but continued to look around the small home.

"Do you two need a place to stay for the night? The storm outside seems to still be going. You can stay here for the night if you'd like." he offered in the kitchen as the soup was just beginning to warm up over the stove. The two couldn't help but nod with a slight nervous laugh.

"No, no it's quite all right! It's quite all right.." Dr. Velshtien said and he examined to see how the soup was coming along. When he opened the pot steam flew out, and he took a sip of the broth with his spoon. _'After all...my assessment is coming up last time I had checked. I could sure use some new patients for my genius experiments now. Isn't that right, Naomi? Alan?'_ Dr. Velshtien thought with a fake smile on his face.

"Ah! Here we go!" Dr. Velshtien said happily and came over with the soup in his hands. Li-san watched as the man gave the soup to Fletcher who thanked him about a dozen times, and he only laughed as he turned the corner. When he disappeared, she had a stern look on her face, wondering if everything was..._right_.

"Isn't this great Li? We get a place to crash for tonight! Dr. Velshtien is pretty nice, isn't he?" Fletcher exclaimed happily as he took a sip of the tea with a small slurp.

"Yeah. Nice is a good word to use..." Li-san said half heartily, now knowing something was really up with that doctor. Something she didn't like at all.

Huh?" Fletcher wondered with a sniffle when he saw a picture of Dr. Velshtien as he was standing in front of a woman who was younger than her with navy hair, holding a young boy with black hair that seemed to be spiked up slightly. There wasn't even a resemblence between all of them. Why was that? And where was the _man of the house_ in that picture anyways?

"Mister, who are these people in this picture here? They seem awfully nice and happy." Fletcher asked curiously.

"Hm? Oh that's my daughter-in-law and grandson. That right there is Naomi and her son Alan." Dr. Velshstien said when he came back from the kitchen.

"What happened to them Dr.?" Li-san asked.

"Both of them died of a terrible illness a while back... I, tried my best to heal them with my alchemy skills but, alas, I was not able to save them." Dr. Velshtien said. The other two were silent, and he walked away. Li-san frowned. Something was wrong with this picture, and she was going to find out whether she liked it or not. After all, she _had_ experienced this before, and of all the things good and pure why hadn't she seen it before?! This was one investigation situation that needed to be further pursued. As Dr. Velshtien came back out with a warm smile on his face, he gave both of them hot chocolate. When the clock struck 11:00 after a few hours, it was time for the both of them to get some rest.

"You both may use the rooms upstairs if you'd like. The bathroom is on your left and my room is the last room on the right. You two may stay in the one on the left side if that's all right with you." Dr. Velshtien said happily and the two walked upstairs.

"Don'tcha think Mr. Velshtien is being really nice to us?" Fletcher said happily.

"A little too nice... I don't think anything is right here Fletcher... He said daughter-in-law, remember? So where's his son?" Li-san asked.

"H-he probably died before the picture was taken!" Fletcher squeaked when he followed Li into the room, not liking **at all** the response she gave him. He hated spooky places, and the doctor seemed so nice, he didn't want to believe that he was a bad kind of guy.

"I dunno... Something's just not right." Li-san said with a frown on her face as she locked the door.

"Hm... Say Li, I'm your friend right?" Fletcher asked, changing the subject.

"Of course you are Fletcher! Why wouldn't you be?" Li-san said with a grin.

"I...I dunno I was just wondering and all cause.. well we've only like, met eachother I guess in just a few hours and all.." Fletcher said nervously.

"Haha. It's nothin to be afraid of. We're friends and we're gonna stay friends mmkay?" Li-san said with a wink as she stuck her tongue out playfully, Fletcher giving her a warm smile back. He liked her answer, maybe he could become her boyfriend with a little more time. Boy was he actually pretty glad that they were staying over for the night! He got to sleep in the same bed as she would...one bed only. It was then he found the courage to reveal his pain to her, maybe she could console him.

"Thanks Li. I guess... I asked that cause, well, you know how my older brother can sometimes be a bit of a pain.." Fletcher started and Li-san nodded with a huff. He couldn't help but laugh with a chuckle.

"Go on Fletch." Li-san said with a smile.

"It's just that...well, normally my brother is the one that's the genius. He's the one who's always so strong, and talented, and courageous.. Not like me. I'm not strong, I'm normally weak all the time... I'm only a mediocre in alchemy, nothing compared to my brother. I'm a scaredy-cat, the opposite of what he is. It's always like that for me, Russell, always coming to my rescue. Always being there for me, when I could never be there for him, or anyone for that matter. I just...get too scared and I hate it when I'm in a sticky situation. I'm nothing like my brother, and normally people I guess... judge me because of that that's all." Fletcher explained and then took in a deep breath.

Wow. He had actually done that! He had never ever confessed that kind of stuff to anyone, not even Russell himself! He looked at Li guiltily when he saw her frown. Was she mad at him? Did he make a bad move by telling her this? He thought girls liked guys who were sensitive...maybe Li wasn't that type. He waited for a response, and she could only laugh after being serious for two straight minutes.

"Ahahahaha! That's a record! Wait till I tell Hazel!" Li-san couldn't help but say to herself.

"Um... Am I missing something here?" Fletcher couldn't help but ask.

"Nothing nothing! It's just I'm not normally the serious type, more like the one that bursts out laughing." Li-san explained, and then regained herself. By this point Fletcher just felt insulted and down right embarrassed. She turned to him though, and it got his attention.

"On to important matters... Fletch, you shouldn't feel that way about yourself. You're your own person and if you're going to be one who doesn't like fighting, then that's okay! I think it's pretty sweet that a guy would rather talk it out in peace rather than fight to the death. It shows maturity, and it also shows lots of courage. You have those qualities Fletcher, don't underestimate yourself. You were very brave in telling me this, and you were really strong as to how you handled it. You're not at all weak, that I can say for sure!" Li-san said happily, and Fletcher couldn't help but have his face lighten up.

"R-Really?! You really think that I... I'm brave? And strong? And mature?!" Fletcher couldn't help but exclaim. Li-san nodded and Fletcher immediately rushed up to her and gave her a hug.

"Thank you so much Li! No one has ever told me that before! You're so nice, and kind, and caring, and smart, and funny, and... and... well.. NICE! THANK YOU SO MUCH! Wait until I tell Brother!" Fletcher exclaimed, and then realized what he had just done. He gulped once, and then looked up to see Li-san looking back down, a smile on her face as she put a hand on his head and playfully ruffled up his hair a bit.

"S'okay. That's what I'm here for." she said innocently with a smile on her face. He was surprised, blank and clueless eyes stared into happy ones. By this time, he would have thought Li was aghast at the way he reacted when all of a sudden she was being hugged by a 16 year old, but I guess that was the reason he liked her too. So understanding, compassionate, smart, determined, and most importantly someone who was pretty. (a/n: boy i'm really taking advantage of this! after all li's well..me! XP) When he let go of her, he looked around the room cluelessly to regain himself, and then finally remembered the bed! One bed! He then checked the clock. It was getting really late by now, and he thought it was about time to go to bed.

"Cool...So um, I see there's only one bed... Uh, you wouldn't mind if I uh...well, you know slept in it with you and all right? Unless you want me to sleep on the floor that is!" Fletcher said, nervousness just came over him even though he had been able to pull that 'stunt' a few seconds ago.

"Huh? Oh yeah you're right there's only one bed... Sure why not!" Li-san said with a smile. Wow, she was really really nice. Actually, she probably **_still _**didn't know that Fletcher was trying to get close to her! Then again, she probably was too worried about Dr. Velshtien. Fletcher blushed.

"C-cool. Thanks Li." Fletcher said happily. When the two were silent for a while, Li-san finally spoke up.

"So uh...we'd better um, get to sleep huh?" Li-san said with a blush. She had finally, _finally, **finally **_realized something about Fletcher, how he was always blushing randomly sometimes. _'Aww. It's so cute that Fletcher has a crush!.. Wait..a crush... A CRUSH ON ME!! Boy how slow am I? B-but I already have a boyfriend.. I got Al. How am I gonna tell Fletcher that I have a boyfriend already?'_ Li-san wondered. She stared up at Fletcher who nodded with a grin and without hesitation took off his shirt and undershirt. Li-san blinked several times in surprise as she now stared at his bare chest, it was pretty filled with muscle for a teen his age. Now that she thought about it, Fletcher was the youngest out of Ed, Al, and Russell. Poor kid, he was stuck being 16 while everyone else was 18 with the exception of Russell and Al who were 17. Then again... probably so was Russell's, Ed's, and Al's. But man oh man he just did that all of a sudden!

"W-wow Fletch... Won't you be cold?" Li-san asked with a face looking like o.o

"Huh? Oh! I'm sorry Li-san that was probably a little weird for you! I'm sorry!" Fletcher said worriedly and put his shirt back on.

"N-no! It's okay it's fine! You can...take off your shirt if you want to..." Li-san said and walked over to Fletcher as she pulled the shirt off of him. Okay, she knew this was awkward, and definately giving off a bad sing considering she hadn't broken his poor little heart by saying she was taken by Al. He started to blush again when he raised his hands up to remove his undershirt.

"Uh..okay... Thanks Li..." Fletcher said in a whisper and Li-san was silent as she threw the shirt aside. What the figismucking was she doing?! SHE WAS FLIRTING?! WITH FLETCHER! THAT WAS BAD! _'Oh crap! Did I do what I think I just did?! OH CRAP OH CRAP NOW HOW AM I GONNA TELL FLETCHER THAT I HAVE A BOYFRIEND?!'_ Li-san screamed inside her head. Not to mention she was flirting with someone who was two years younger than her! Actually...two years _older than her_ in the future... It was--weird! (o.o)! ( _how am I gonna get outta this one now?! ANE-SAN WHERE ARE YOU WHEN I NEED YOU!!!_)

"Ah...heh...No problem.." Li-san said with a half-grin, and then she took off her jacket. She was about to take off her long sleeved shirt too, but then stopped herself abruptly. WHAT THE HELL WAS SHE DOING?! _'OH FOR CHRIST'S SAKE I'M FLIRTING WITH FLETCHER! AND IT'S WORKING!!'_ Li-san wailed. At least she still had that on and her gloves, he still didn't know she had automail.

"Well uh...better hit the hay." Fletcher said and Li-san nodded as the two climbed into the bed. It was kind of small, and uncomfortable.

"Wow it..sure is roomy..." Fletcher joked.

"Yeah... G'night Fletcher." Li-san said and closed her eyes. She could feel herself start to sweat, and her cheeks were flustered. Fletcher felt the same way as he slept on his back, staring at the ceiling. Li-san was on her side, and tried not to move from time to time to attract attention. When she finally fell asleep, Fletcher was still wide away, ever so often glancing over to where Li-san was sleeping. She was beautiful, and so pretty... he always was saying to himself. How he wished he could just kiss her right now and confess his love for her, hopefully having her agree. When he noticed Li roll over to face him, she seemed and looked so peaceful. He moved his head to the side, not moving his body, only to have a good glance at her beautiful face. His eyes started to shake, and he felt himself move closer to her, closer to her lips, wanting to give her a passionate kiss. His lust began to rise, his pulse raced, sweat rolled down his face as he etched closer, and closer, and closer, and then-..CREEEEEEAAAAAAAAAKKKKK. He immediately retreated when he heard the door to their room open.

"Sleep... Both of you..." he heard a voice hiss, and Fletcher made sure to cover his whole mouth when he heard a spray fill the room. When the door closed silently, he moved under the sheets to avoid the spray, and tried to make Li-san do the same, but she had already fell under the spell of the stench. _'Li was right! Dr. Velshtien is up to something evil!'_ Fletcher thought nervously, trying to think of a way out of this..hopefully, in time.. He turned to look at Li-san nervously, seeing how she was deeply asleep. How was he gonna wake her up now?! He was able to grab some courage, and turned on his side now, abruptly shaking Li on the shoulder.

"Li! LI WAKE UP PLEASE!" he hissed in a low voice to her, but there was no response, only the deep breaths coming from Li who was still in her slumber. She rolled over to her side, ignoring anything on the outside as her dream began to take her in for the count.

"No Li you. have. to. wake. up!" Fletcher begged as he turned her back towards him, shaking her again to hopefully wake her up. She only slapped him and he teared a little out of the sting. It shouldn'tve hurt that much unless...

He sighed with a frown, and then wondered if some water would wake her up! He crept out of bed quietly, and walked toward the door. When his hand was etching close to the knob, he heard foosteps and his heart pounded in his chest, faster and faster until he had to not think about breathing. He looked down, saw the doctors' shadow right below where he was standing.

Did the doctor know? Know that he wasn't asleep?! That he was ruining his plan?! Fletcher could feel a huge lump in his chest, sweat began to roll down his face and chest as he dared not open his mouth to even take a small, silent, breath. It seemed forever, even though it was only about thirty five seconds. Soon, Fletcher could hear the doctor grumble as he walked away from the door. Even then Fletcher didn't even dare to think or move, too scared to do anything. He listened and waited.

He heard the doctor walk up to his room, open the door and close it before silence took over the hallway. After a few more minutes, Fletcher finally was able to break out of his curse and breathe deeply in and out, hyperventilating a little bit before coming to his senses. _'That was close! If I would have come out before he came, I would've been caught! What's that doctor up to? What's he going to do to us if we don't get out of here? There's gotta be a way out...'_ Fletcher thought to himself and then looked out the window. He growled.

_'Dammit all! It's a snowstorm out there... What am I supposed to do now?!'_ Fletcher thought to himself with a growl of aggrivation and a clenched fist that had sweat falling onto the ground out of the event before hand. He then turned to Li who was still sleeping peacefully through all of this. He was wondering what she was dreaming out, what was making her look so beautiful, so majestic... that and, she was starting to drool. _'I am not cleaning that up if she wakes up.' _was the first thing he thought to himself as his eyes narrowed slightly. If it was one thing he wanted now more than ever, was to have his brother come to his aid. Fletcher gritted his teeth.

If it was one thing he would never want to truly admit, it was that of being the weaker of the siblings as he had explained to Li before. He was always the one who wanted to find a peaceful solution, never reckless like his older brother. Never stronger like his older brother, never ever brave enough like his older brother. It pained him so sometimes that he felt like crying. He then though, remembered Li's words.

_"...You shouldn't feel that way about yourself. You're your own person and if you're going to be one who doesn't like fighting, then that's okay! I think it's pretty sweet that a guy would rather talk it out in peace rather than fight to the death. It shows maturity, and it also shows lots of courage. You have those qualities Fletcher, don't underestimate yourself. You were very brave in telling me this, and you were really strong as to how you handled it. You're not at all weak, that I can say for sure!"_

That's right! He was, in her eyes, strong; someone who was brave! He couldn't let her down now! But what was a 16 year old boy supposed to do in the middle of the night? He couldn't make a run for it. If he knew too well, it was that the doctor would probably hear them somehow and track them down, and it was still snowstorming. He thought about what to do, and closed his eyes, a bead of sweat ran down the side of his face. Frantic blue eyes opened, to only become saddened. There was nothing he could do now, nothing he could think of. He'd need rest to do that...but would it be too late if morning would come already and he still didn't have a plan? Hopefully...hopefully his dreams would help him through it, and hopefully somehow he would maybe have a plan all ready the next morning...

He couldn't think straight now, shock and overwhelming distress took over that he started to get a headache. He crawled into the bed wearily, and looked at Li. Knowing she was asleep peacefully, he did the only thing he felt was the best right now. He felt his heart thump rapidly in his chest, waiting for the right time. He found Li's hand and gripped it tight, and put on a brave and yet nervous smile.

_'Don't worry Li...I'm going to save us both. You have faith in me..and that's all I need. Just you wait, I'll show you what Fletcher Tringham can do.'_ he thought to himself, only to realize that it was probably a lie.. But he couldn't say that! Not just yet! He could do it, he knew he could, and gripped on tighter. With one more squeeze of reassurance, to both her and himself, he fell asleep wearily, letting her go as he was lost in his own dream...

When the morning came, Fletcher woke up to a start as the door opened forcefully. He closed his eyes, pretending he was asleep. He heard the footsteps of Dr. Velshtien walking over to them, eyeing (sp?) both of them carefully.

"Good morning you two. Or should I say...good bye instead?... It's time to start the experimentation, and you two have to behave for me now don't you. After all, I _am_ still the Healing Alchemist, aren't I? Seems like you two need some fixing up to do why, my dear you look awfully pale." Dr. Velshtien seemed to be saying to himself, a crazed look on his face as he put his cold hand on Li's cheek. She flinched a little bit, but retreated after he removed his icy cold hand away from her face. He looked at both of them asleep, side by side.

"How fitting it will be. My assessment is coming up too, didn't I tell you? Well...it _would_ be coming up but... it seems the military found out at the last moment how I was able to pass my assessment... My my have the years flown by when I haven't seen one person in sight. Today is my lucky day as well." Dr. Velshtien said and exited the room for a moment.

Fletcher squinted his eyes open slightly, and turned to Li who was still in a deep sleep. He could feel sweat run down his face, but then heard the doctor come back in. He could see in his mind what the doctor was doing, picking Li up and placing her on a stretcher. He couldn't open his eyes, not yet.

"Now you'll go first my dear. After I fix you up, I'll have to take care of your little friend here who came down with a dreadful cold that could...perhaps, change his life forever." Dr. Velshtien said, licking his lips as he led the stretcher into his room, all the way at the end of the hallway. When Fletcher heard the door close, he immediately rushed out of bed and silently and hurriedly rushed downstairs to the phone, dialing the Rockbell's phone number hastily.

As he waited, he could only wonder if Li was still alive or not. _'C'mon..pick up! PICK UP PLEASE!'_ Fletcher thought as his mind raced, heart pounding. When no one answered, he finally gave up and took a gulp. He thought to himself and recalled what she had said the night before over and over in his mind, how strong and brave he was. He wasn't going to let go of that: **EVER**. It was what gave him strength now, the courage and the skills. Today he would become a hero...

_'NO! I'm not gonna run! I'm gonna save Li! I'm gonna be her protector! She needs me too and I'm the only person here she's got right now! My alchemy should be enough...'_ Fletcher thought with a courageous look on his face and transmuted himself a strong thorny sword from a nearby rose flower. He held it in his hands, and quietly crept up the stairs to the doctor's room, ready to strike with his thorned sword at any moment.

The room was dark, and the doctor layed (sp?) Li on the table, tying her down. He couldn't wait to start the disection, doing whatever he could to her, finding a cure for the most abnormal 'diseases' or 'problems' this girl _could_ have that _could_ kill her. He smiled in glee, and made her wake up by sprinkling some pepper on her. Soon enough, she sneezed and looked; dazed around the dark room as a light shone in her face.

"Wha...What's going on?... Doctor?" Li-san mumbled to herself and then gritted her teeth as she struggled against the binds that held her down.

"I'm glad you're up my dear. You wouldn't wake up when I called for you, so I thought maybe I could wake you up myself." Dr. Velshtien said happily, and then sighed when she started to sneeze a little bit. She sniffed once, and then had her eyes crossed.

"You wake me up by spraying pepper over my face to make me sneeze to..toooo...ACHOO! WAKE ME UP?! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU MAN?!" Li-san shouted angrily. He had yet to wonder if she even realized the danger she was in. _'Clueless dobe. The more, the merrier I guess as my grandmother used to say. Idiocity is a curse, deal with it is what she also said... This poor girl must have both.'_ Dr. Velshtien thought with a sigh.

". . . Well I never met such a dirty mouthed brat like yourself." he said simply. Li-san had her eye twitched, and she shouted at the top of her lungs.

"YOU IDIOT! NOW I'M GONNA SNEEZE NONSTOP! WAY TO GO GENIUS! I HATE PEPP..PEPPP...ACHOOO! PEPPER TOOOO!" Li-san cried angrily.

"Snappy...Goodness me. You need to take a short snooze." he said and took out a needle. Li-san couldn't help but smirk. He wondered why, and placed the needle in her right arm to have it be bent.

"What the-"

"Did I forget to mention? I'm not what you would call..um, fully functional I guess... Wait no that's not what I meant to say cause I'm not like..a cyborg or whatever." Li-san started and then frowned slightly. The doctor didn't care what she had to say, and tore away her long sleeves to change her outift into a short sleeved shirt.

"Hey! Don't go ripping my sleeves!" Li-san snapped and the doctor examined her.

"Hmph. Automail huh? Looks like I'll have some work here, I'm not very good with mechanics. I wonder what would happen if I took it apart.." the doctor said to himself and started to pull the automail off.

"Hey! Get offa me!" Li-san struggled and kicked him hard. He was pushed away from her and she did a backflip to have her hands over the table.

"Damn...Forgot to bind her legs too. My memory is getting beat.." the doctor muttered.

"Tell me who you really are! You're not a doctor are you.. You're probably like, an assasin who's an ex-state alchemist! And who was your son? You said daughter-in-law so you must have killed your son!" Li-san came to conclusions.

"You're half right, and half wrong my dear. I am a doctor, and I am a state alchemist. I'm not an assasin...I'm... a doctor who has failed at his job many times, but have always created something..._functional_." he said with a sweet smile on his face.

"Yeah right.. Like I'm supposed to believe that." Li-san spat. He smiled and walked over to her, notcing that her left arm only had half her automail.

"I suppose this will do." he said and stuck the needle deep into her arm, making her eyes become dulled, finally having darkness surround her. He smirked slightly, and pushed her back onto the table, tying her legs down. As he examing her right arm, he dislocated the automail and tossed it aside, seeing what would happen if he tried to toy with it. He started to take it apart piece by piece, fascinated of how this could be used during his examination.

The creations ran through his mind, like the ones he had planned so long ago.. His son... his very first patient, his very first successful experiment... He started to laugh out loud to himself, muttering at some points. When he finally was finished fiddling with her automail, he stared at his masterwork. He had changed the automail into a demented form of some sort having a purpose of only one thing: Death and Destruction. He would use this newfound contraption (a/n: boy i like sounding smart when i use big words! XD) to experiment on Li, wondering what kind of new form she would take after the surgery was complete.. It didn't take long though to have his thoughts be interrupted.

Suddenly, the door burst opened and he saw Fletcher standing in the doorway. Dr. Velshtien looked at the boy like he had seen a ghost! How could it be?! How could Fletcher be awake?! It just wasn't possible! Did something go wrong? How could his plans have backfired?! If this would have gotten out to the military, he was sunk and he knew it. He couldn't let this happen. When he found the courage to speak, he spat in an aggrivated and nervous tone.

"H-How can you be awake?!" he cried.

"Step away from Li!" Fletcher replied confidently. The doctor gritted his teeth.

"Listen boy, I don't know how you were able to stay awake throughout last night, but if you know what's good for you you'll say you didn't see anything and leave your friend behind. Besides, when you see her again you won't even recognize her." he said with a crazed smile.

"Li was right! You are a creepy doctor alchemist person! I won't let you get away with this at all! I want answers, and I want the truth! First though, let her go!" Fletcher cried angrily. At this the doctor laughed and laughed, seeing how this boy was acting was a site to see.

"Ha! Who are you kid? Her _body guard_? You aren't even 18! What are you trying to be? A hero?! Good luck with that! All you'll be doing is causing her pain, you realize that?" Dr. Velshtien spat as he picked up his latest finished piece of work. Fletcher was silent for a moment, wondering what to say. Maybe he was right... '_NO! NO NO NO NO NO! I HAVE TO TRY!'_

"I may not be her age...but I'm..in love and I won't let you hurt Li! I'll become her knight in shining armor!" Fletcher roared and charged with his alchemy, straight for the doctor's beating heart.

A/N: I think i'm gonna stop there XD anywayz! plz leave a review u guys, tell me how u're likin it so far plzzzz!! also, the next chapter will be like an action packed scene and all, but will first start out with the night before as a flashback (it might be long-middle-ish though). u'll see y and it doesn't have to deal with li and fletcher being at the crazed doc's house. anywayz, it'll even have a lil bit of (like really really minor so don't get ur hopes up or nothin) edxwinry! i'll do my best! o yes... one more thing i must say to all of u! thanks to everyone so far for the reviews! arigatou! -Em... Next time!- Chapter 4: My Knight In Shining Armor ... o yea.. i'd like at least 5 reviews of it's not that much trouble ev'ryone.. four's okay too but i'm askin for 5 plz make my new year's wish come true! o yea! HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!


	4. Li sans Knight In Shining Armor

A/N: hello there everyone! thank u for ur time to read and review, much appreciated! i hope u're liking this sequel too by the way, and i'm glad that for those of u who do right now, it'll just keep gettin' better! ;) ahem... yes well, anywayz! off to chapter 4! and trust me, i won't leave off a cliffie, no worries ;) . anywayz!... off to the story! Happy Reading everyone!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own FMA, but I do own Li, Hazel, Dr. Velshtien, and other people that will come into the story later on that I made up! D

**Chapter 4: Li-sans Knight In Shining Armor**

_It was getting late... about a little bit before 11, and Hazel was dialing Central's number. She waited patiently, even though her heart was beating rapidly inside her chest knowing that something was wrong. She didn't like this situation, and normally ones like these always put the two in danger somehow. As the phone finally was picked up in Central, a familiar voice had answered it._

_"Central Headquarters. This is Fuery speaking."_

_"FUERY! Am I glad to hear you!" was the first thing Hazel had said. The line went dead. Hazel for a moment had dark lines under her eyes as to why the phone line went dead. Had something happened to Fuery?! 'Oh no! Stay calm Hazel...stay calm!' she thought to herself and regained posture when she heard breathing on the other end._

_"H...Hazel?! Ed and Al told us that you were...well, they told us the whole story. When did you get back?!" Fuery cried._

_"Long story and to make it short, we basically found a way back. Now onto the important matter at hand! Where's Mustang? I gotta talk to him pronto!" Hazel said. There was a short nervous laugh from the other line._

_"Well uh...see the Furher is um uh...well he's just doing a little more 'paperwork' with Hawkeye... Get my drift?" Fuery said on the other line._

_"Oh dear Lord." Hazel said and sighed in frustration. There was another moment of silence._

_"Um, is there anything I can do for you Hazel?" Fuery asked. Hazel thought for a moment, and snapped her fingers with a lightbulb above her head._

_"YEAH! IS HUGHES THERE?!" she first asked._

_"Well he's um, on his way-"_

_"I DON'T CARE FUERY! IT'S IMPORTANT PUT HIM ON! CHASE AFTER HIM IF YOU HAVE TO!" Hazel roared. She heard foosteps rushing out somewhere, and then angry chattering voices. Finally, the phone was picked up and Hughes answered the phone._

_"Maes here. What seems to be the situation?" he asked in his serious tone._

_"Hey Hughes! It's me, Hazel!" she said happily._

_"H-Hazel?! Good to hear from you! Everyone at Central got word that you two went somewhere 'BIG' let's just say...we thought you guys left us for good! What do you need my help for?" Hughes asked._

_"Well Hughes, you see Li and Fletcher Tringham went out in the snowstorm to look for me which by the way don't ask because it's a long story.. Anyways, they're staying at a doctor's house but Li has this bad feeling about him and I thought maybe you could-"_

_"Hey hey! No means to interrupt but wow that's a mouthful! Hey have you heard the news about our new baby boy? He's such a bundle I don't know how-"_

_"STAY WITH ME HUGHES! WE'LL TALK ABOUT YOUR SON SOME OTHER DAY BUT RIGHT NOW I NEED TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT IMPORTANT STUFF DEALING IN THE INVESTIGATIONS DEPARTMENT!" Hazel cried. Even though in their plot Hughes was still alive, he did at some points now that she had experience actually talking with him get on her nerves by randomly going off about his family life._

_"Oh...welll... what do you want to know about?" Hughes asked._

_"Okay will you do me a favor and look up a man by the name of Dr. Anderson Velshtien?" Hazel asked politely. On the other end, the scene turned to Central with Hughes frowning, a confused look on his face._

_"You want me to look up a guy that's been dead for four months now?" Hughes asked, and Hazel felt herself become numb. Four months? This guy had been dead for four months?! She could feel chills running down her spine._

_"Four months?...Wait, was the doctor a state alchemist?" Hazel asked._

_"Yeah. Healing Alchemist. Until recently we found out that his alchemy was based on the body and its functions. He experimented on the human body by killing and disecting his victims. One of them apparently was his own son at the age of 23, the first that made him pass the exam. After that his daughter-in-law and grandson were his next victims. Talk about a psycho. He was also a friend of Shou Tucker, whom I'm sure you knew worked on chimeras having the ability of human speech. Well, Velshtien here did almost the same, but adding technology into it creating chimeras with the ability of human speech, ability to walk on two legs, even more that the human body could do. He also created them half machine as well... A half robot half chimera with technology and alchemy.. A real painkiller if you ask me." Hughes explained on the other line. Hazel was silent, she stared at the group with her eyes only small, scared pupils._

_"Hazel? What's wrong?" Winry asked, concerned. Ed, Al, and Russell stood up abruptly, stern looks on their faces wtih concern._

_"Li and Fletcher are in danger... Big danger." was all Hazel could say. She then put the phone back to her ear, and carefully explained the situation._

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Fletcher roared as he charged foward with his sword, ready to strike the doctor in his ugly wretched heart. The doctor was prepared, and clapped his hands together transmuting Li's automail into a shield. As Fletcher struck his attack was deflected and he fell with a thud.

"Hahahahaha! Foolish boy! You can't kill me!" Dr. Velshtien seemed to tease the boy.

"I can try! I'll succeed, you'll see!" Fletcher growled back and was back on his feet, ready to attack. As he charged foward once more Velshtien clapped his hands together to create a spear to match Fletcher's sword. The two clashed and sparks flew. Both were taking a beating as little droplets of blood from both sides began to fall onto the ground. Velshtien grumbled a little when Fletcher's strike struck down on his shirt, making it rip. As Fletcher was ready to attack once more with the doctor's guard down, he stared in horror at what stood before him.

Doctor Velshtien looked down at his chest for a moment, and then back up at Fletcher, seeing how terrified his eyes were at the shocking surprise that lay beneath the cloth. He laughed, and decided to take off his shirt anyways to show Fletcher what had scared him just recently. Instead of flesh, there was metal. The _flesh_ was peeled off to reveal working gears inside of him, and a robotic heart beating ever so quickly. Fletcher had only dented the metal slightly (a lil dent), not even a scatch! Clearly this man...wasn't human!

"Didn't expect that, did you runt?" Dr. Velshtien asked with a smile.

"What...What ARE you?!" Fletcher screamed. The doctor laughed.

"Did you know boy? The _real_ Dr. Velshtien died four months ago. I am a replica, a mere shell of the once famous and great Dr. Anderson Velshtien, the Healing Alchemist. He created me before his deathbed, ready for revenge on the wretched, filthy, State. I have all of his memories and plans, everything is up in here." Velshtien said and pointed to his head.

"You're...not human!? A cy-cy-cyborg?!" Fletcher cried slightly. The doctor laughed again.

"Half correct my boy! You're smart! I didn't think you would understand, but assuming that you're the son of the Great Nash Tringham himself I guess it's only natural! I'm half cyborg half chimera to be exact." the doctor said, sounding pleased with what he was.

"Didn't you hear what they had said back in Xenotime four years ago? How your father was killed because he would not do as your precious mayor wanted?" the doctor asked right after, a sly smile appearing on his ugly face.

"Y..Yes? What does that has to do with this?!" Fletcher spat in anger.

"His death was tragic, and you know what I did to him? Turned him into a living, breathing, chimera! The pitiful thing, always wailing in agony right until the very end when I slit him in two to experiment even more." Dr. Velshtien explained and laughed when Fletcher gritted his teeth in anger, his face already twisting in pain.

"YOU! YOU KILLED HIM!? YOU KILLED OUR DAD?! No.. YOU MURDERED HIM! YOU BASTARD!" Fletcher roared and without thinking, charged foward, forgetting everything and only revenge for his father. He swung until his arms began to tire, but that didn't stop him. He was in a state of rage by now, knowing the truth about his father's death. He would have his revenge for his whole family.

"Now now my boy it's nothing to get...overly dramatic over! I must say... my own son was taken aback when he found out what had happened to his mother so long ago." Dr. Velshtien said as he was a little away from Fletcher who panted heavily.

"What?... You...? Your own wife and son?! How many lives have you taken away just for you own sick minded games?!" Fletcher cried, still panting as he crouched a little, still holding the sword with a strong grip.

"It was an accident the first time I did it actually." the doctor started, looking at his own hands for a moment. "You see I, I had summoned my wife down to the basement to see my newest and latest work that I had just done. As she followed me down, I showed her a substance I had just created and told her to wait where she was. Our pet cat, Niko had gotten into the mess of things, and I instinctively activated the circle. My wife was right in the middle of it, and not knowing that she began to scream while Niko hissed in agony." the doctor explained.

"How is that not an accident?!" Fletcher roared. The doctor only frowned slightly, and turned to the boy, cold eyes stared into those of innocent blue ones.

"My boy, when I realized what I had just done I watched in horror as my wife and Niko began to combine together, creating the perfect chimera because of the substance she was holding at that moment. It spilled all over their bodies when the glass shattered, and in seconds in front of me was a living breathing chimera. Those narrowed yellow slits for eyes, the pale color, it's roar. She had the ability of human speech, and talked to me in few words." he continued.

"Soon I realized that if I hurried, I could use this newly created being for my alchemy exam... and I did." the doctor said. Almost, Fletcher felt _sorry_ for this man. It all changed when he saw the doctor smile widely.

"And I don't regret it either... I passed the alchemy exam with flying colors, the Fuhrer even acknowledged my skills, and it was all thanks to an accident that happened right there... in my basement." the doctor said with a smile.

"YOU... YOU DEMON! YOU HEARTLESS DEMON! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO YOUR OWN WIFE!" Fletcher roared angrily, still wondering about the doctor's son.

"It was an accident! I didn't intend for it to happen! It just did!" the doctor roared back, defending himself to the extent where Fletcher almost felt guilty for yelling at the poor man. "It was just luck after that really... and for the lives I have taken, a great price has been paid." the doctor continued, and then walked over to where Li was, caressing her cheek to make her shudder. Fletcher clenched a fist when he saw Li's reaction.

"Boy, did you know? My assessment is supposed to be coming up right about now... I was quite surprised when a couple of teens like yourself happened to be on my doorstep. How could I not pass up that opportunity to use you as my new test subjects? With her I don't know what I could create... Already having automail could make a difference." the doctor explained.

"You... get away from her!" Fletcher cried, his voice strong and confident. The doctor stopped what he was doing, and stared daggers toward Fletcher. In moments, he was gone. Fletcher blinked twice, seeing if he was correct as to how Velshtien had suddenly disappeared! How did that happen?! When did it happen?! Fletcher was taken aback, and now he was on his guard. He looked around, making sure all of his senses were alert. He felt a bead of sweat fall..and that was when it happened.

The Rockbell household was bustling as a cab in black rushed into the driveway. Out came about five military troops with two familiar people coming out as they walked up the stairs. Only two knocks did the trick for the door to open.

"Hawkeye!_ Fuhrer _Mustang!" Hazel said brightly as she answered the door, having the couple stare down in disbelief that Hazel was standing before them.

"H..Hazel? Is it really you?" Hawkeye asked, beginning to form a smile.

"Uh-huh. But let's save the reunion for later. I'm sure Hughes told you everything I told him last time while you two were having s.e.x." Hazel couldn't help but tease as the two blushed slightly. Mustang coughed to regain himself.

"Right. News travels fast. So you're saying that that maniac Velshtien is still alive eh? That couldn't be possible unless..." Mustang said to himself, thinking really hard.

"_Unless_? You mean he really is dead?" Hazel asked and Mustang nodded.

"Mm-hm. I was there when it happened. 20 bullets to be precise. No one thought he'd be alive again. I'm wondering how he did it.. Using alchemy maybe... Maybe even turning himself into a cyborg just to live and do more of his cruel experiments. It all ended after he had transmuted his grandson into a mechanical chimera; head of a dog, mechanical eye, heart, liver, legs... ability of speech and even walking on hind legs." Mustang said bitterly and Hazel couldn't help but feel a bad pang in her stomach.

"You don't think we're too late... do you? Apparently he lives in that house you had passed about a few miles away." Winry asked when she and the rest of the group joined Hazel and the military outside.

"Hard to tell. But I'm sure they're all right. Li's been in this situation after all, hasn't she?" Mustang asked and the group nodded.

"All right then. Let's go everyone! Into the cab!" Mustang ordered, and everyone crammed in. As the familiar blonde color for bangs, brown haired driver turned the key in the ignition, it made a chuuuurrr noise and a currrrrrrrr and a ka-lump!

"What seems to be the problem Havoc?" Mustang asked, annoyed.

"Sorry sir it seems that as Miss Hawkeye was driving and may I note, speeding down the road like a crazy wild animal-...uh, sorry Hawkeye sir uh...ma'am." Havoc started, and then paused as he apologized to Hawkeye briefly. "We ran out of gas." Havoc finished. Mustang gave a narrow eyed stare directly towards Hawkeye.

"Hawkeye, what have I told you about driving in the cab, speeding down like a tremendous speeding bullet?" Mustang asked, raising a brow. She couldn't help but smile sheepishly, a blush going across her face.

"Sorry... sir." she said and tried to keep that smile off her face. The military plus everyone else tumbled out of the car, seeing it was too crammed in, and decided to jog/run there.

"I hope we're not going to be late. It's gonna take us about 20 minutes to get there!" Winry cursed to herself.

"No worries. Li can handle herself I'm sure of it." Mustang said with a smile as he slipped his gloves on his hands. He hadn't put on these gloves in a while, and he felt a little strange putting them back on after a few months... It was like he was a State Alchemist again... The day Li and Hazel left, the whole military was informed about Fuhrer Bradley being a Homunculous, and the whole military did anything to stop the threat. Soon, after the Fuhrer was destroyed, Mustang was automatically made the next Fuhrer, having many of the military congratulating him and saying that he was the right man for the job. Soon after that, Mustang finally got the courage with Hughes backing him up to ask Riza to marry him. It happened, and the two were newly wed.

_'It's strange now... Thinking back... I still find it hard to believe sometimes that I'm married to the love of my life... having three kids back at HQ. It's even unbelievable that Hazel and Li are back... Almost as if they had planned to come for Christmas celebration. Amazing...'_ Mustang thought to himself and smiled as he saw images of his children flash before him. He grinned, and the group wondered what was going through his head. He only laughed nervously, and the group pressed on.

It was so quick, Fletcher didn't have any time to blink! All of a sudden, the doctor was there, face to face with him. It was like a moment in time that was wasted, and he watched helplessly as Dr. Velshtien had the upper hand, a smile on his face. Like a speeding bullet, the doctor punched Fletcher with full force straight in the stomach, making the poor boy cough out some of his saliva mixed with blood as he was thrown back. Without any time to react even furhter, the boy didn't even land on the ground to have his knee crush into Fletcher's back. Fletcher grunted loudly in pain as he slid across the floorboard, weak and in PAIN. The doctor laughed, staring down at the boy.

"Foolish idiot. You really thought you could defeat a person like me? The famous Healing Alchemist?! I don't think so! Tsk tsk tsk!" the doctor mocked as he gave Fletcher another kick to the stomach. Another hard blow that would need time to heal, he had thought to himself. The doctor smiled, and then walked over to where Li-san was. Fletcher transmuted a circle in a mere few seconds, and activated it. Thorns from the ground erupted from the floor, and rushed toward the doctor who turned back to see. He seemed a little bit worred at first, but then smiled with glee as he tore away at the thorns with the automail, and then charged back at Fletcher, giving him a bloody nose.

"You stay out of this boy! You really want to die before she does? The shame it will be. The terrified and twisted look on her face if she were to wake to see what would become of you. I would respect her wishes to not be killed first, don't you?" the doctor asked.

"What makes you decide who dies first or last? You're the only one here that's going to die." Fletcher said through grit teeth. By saying this instantly he was siezed by his cuff, and was backed into a wall, HARD. The doctor had an angry look on his face that seemed to be saying the words, "DEATH"

"Listen to me, boy. I decide who lives and who dies in this house. I always had that decision when my son and his wife and kid were living here! Don't tell me what I can and can't do!" Velshtien roared, as if annoyed and torn by Fletcher's words.

"Why did you do it?.. Why did you kill your son?! Wasn't your wife enough for you!?" Fletcher roared. He felt like the doctor's skin went pale for a moment, and a stricken look had appeared on that ugly face of his.

"I didn't kill him... I tried to save him. He was my only son... My only son and yet I could not save him. I had transmuted his mother only when he was 5, so it was hard on us! When I couldn't save him when he had been infected with a virus of some sort, I felt devistated! Even though he was 24 I still couldn't save him! The poor boy... when the operation ended, I hatched an idea. I transmuted his soul to a cyborg, and then made another chimera, one that was better. It became our pet until the assessment. My daughter-in-law and grandson never knew the pet they loved was in fact her husband and his father..." the doctor explained.

"Still... that doesn't mean you should have done that! It was the wrong choice you made! Just looking at you...hearing you talk, it makes me sick." Fletcher spat angrily.

"SILENCE BOY! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR TALKS!" Velshtien said angrily and in an instant, punched him straight in the gut, making Fletcher cough and grunt as droplets of blood fell to the floor. He was then dropped, and looked up at the doctor wearily. Velshtien only smiled, a crazed one in fact, and went back to work. He turned away from Fletcher, who felt like his whole body couldn't move. What was he to do now?! He had to do something...

"Now, to get back to what I needed to do." Velshtien said and picked up a small cutting knife that could pierce the flesh of this girl so easily. Fletcher picked up his head slowly and forced it to watch and try to stop this. His vision started to become blurry, and then came back the instant he could hear a sudden scream, and then a whimper from his secret lover's voice. This got him angered, and he got up slowly, and then charged at the doctor with his transmuted sword.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Fletcher roared and thrusted his sword through the doctor's body. There was a large KINK! noise, and the doctor grimaced as he started to bleed out black oil... Fletcher was disgusted, and then threw the doctor aside, releasing Li of her chains that had her arm and legs tied. Even though she was released though, she was still out cold. _'C'mon Li, wake up... Please..'_ Fletcher thought to himself, his eye sight started to blur again. NO! He couldn't let this moment go to waste! He had to wake her up, somehow, someway... but what?! Then... it hit him. Why not...kiss her? He had tried doing that last night but... he didn't have the time because the doctor came in to their room. Who knows, maybe it would have worked.

Fletcher gulped once, twice, three times before he gained the courage to go for it! At first, he went slowly, as if guiding his lips to hers in a delicate way. Then, all of a sudden he pressed against hers, and it was like he was flying. He felt his heart skip a beat as his heart rate began to grow rapidly. Should he stop? Now what was he supposed to do?! Oh man, this would have been a good time for Russell to teach him about girls! At first the boy was clueless, but gradually became enveloped in the kiss. Wanting it to last forever until Li woke up. He wondered what was going through her mind right about now... Hopefully someway of waking up..

Mustang, Hazel, Hawkeye, Havoc, Ed, Al, Winry, and all the other military forces rushed down the road.

"Damnit all! How long is it going to take us to get to one lousy house! I mean... really now it can't just be in the middle of no where for the love of GOD!" Mustang couldn't help but spazz after running for about fifteen minutes.

"Relax Mustang! Yeesh, didn't think you'd be one to have a fit over a short run!" Ed couldn't help but tease.

"SHORT?! FULLMETAL THIS IS NOT WHAT I WOULD CALL A SHORT RUN! WHAT I WOULD CALL A **SHORT** RUN WOULD BE TO HAVE YOU RUN AROUND CENTRAL 10 TIMES!" Mustang countered back. Ed felt a vein pop.

"Are you saying that I'm still **A SHORTIE**?!" Ed roared in anger.

"Maybe! Last time I saw you you hadn't even grown an inch!" Mustang said in his 'I provoked the shrimp' attitude and stopped for a moment. The rest decided to take a small breather while the Fuhrer and Major continued to fight. Ed was enraged now, and walked right up to Mustang and practically shouted in the Fuhrer's face.

"WHY I OUGHTTA... C'MON MUSTANG RIGHT HERE AND NOW! I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU PICK ON A **_LIL SHORTIE_** LIKE ME!" Ed raged.

"Now Edward is that any way to be talking to the Fuhrer? My my where are your manners? I can't believe after all this time you still treat me like the Colonel I used to be! What a shame! Maybe I should take back that promotion I have for you on my desk right about now to becoming a Brigadier General!" Mustang said in his dramatic tone.

"MAKE IT LIEUTENANT COLONEL, and maybe we'll have a tie this time." Ed said slyly, a grin on his face. Mustang started to sweatdrop slightly, not expecting that kind of answer from Ed. Before he could answer though, Ed continued saying, "Besides, I'm sure you wouldn't want a repeat of what happened four years ago. Last time I kicked your no good a--" All of a sudden, a fist slammed down on Ed's head, making him yell in pain.

"ENOUGH! STICK TO THE MATTER AT HAND! WE'RE HERE TO RESCUE LI AND FLETCHER! STOP WORRYING BOUT YOUR HEIGHT AND START WORRYING ABOUT THEM!" Hazel flamed, and Ed obeyed like a dog with its tail between its legs. She turned to everyone else, and took charge of the situation by knocking Mustang over and going to the front.

**"ALL RIGHT YOU GUYS! LET'S GET THIS OVER WITH! UP ON YOUR FEET LET'S GO MOVE IT MOVE IT RIGHT NOW! WE'RE ON A MISSION HERE AND I DON'T THINK WE NEED TO FAIL IT! COME ON YOU CAN GO FASTER THAN THAT! FASTER! FASTERRRRRRR!"** Hazel roared at all of them, and they picked up speed so quickly that she had to try and keep up. _'Maybe I overdid it..'_ Hazel thought to herself.

"How... -pant- ... Far... -pant- Are... -pant- We now?!" Ed wondered aggrivatingly.

"We're almost there! The house is that one!" Winry pointed.

"THAT'S NOT 'ALMOST THERE'! THAT'S MORE LIKE 'A FEW MORE 10 MINUTES TO GET THERE' THERE!" Ed spazzed.

"Brother just stop complaining and pick up the pace!" Al cried in a determined voice. Ed sulked a little bit, but understood why his brother had just said what he said. He was worried, and he should be as well seeing as his girlfriend was in danger.

Russell hadn't spoken since leaving the Rockbell's, hoping and wondering how Fletcher was making out with this. He always knew that his little brother could sometimes be considered a weakling and a coward, but now he wondered if Fletcher had actually and maybe matured. By now his little brother would probably be rushing back to his side, having his older brother to protect him. It made Russell smile.

Then again, he thought about Hazel now who was speeding down on them like a raging bull. _'Man she's scary when she takes evasive action... I hope that I never get on **her** nerves! She's **SCARY WHEN SHE'S LIKE THIS**!' _

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_It was dark inside Li's mind... Nothing seemed to be working properly-...oh wait, nothing really ever seemed to working properly in that thick and dense head of hers (:-P) . Suddenly though, she found herself floating in mid air, still in darkness... Was this a dream? Where was she? Why was she here?... Questions ran through her mind, and suddenly they all disappeared, especially when the scene became a field of flowers, followed by lips on her own. She opened her eyes, and saw the image of Al in front of her, passionately kissing her. Still... she liked this feeling but, it wasn't Alphonse.. In an instant, the image of him disappeared and was replaced with someone who looked just plain fuzzy. No, this kiss was... different. Whose was it?... She couldn't put her finger on it, and instead she accepted this kiss. Inside her mind the image faded from Al completely, and turned to reveal that it was Fletcher! _

Li-san opened her eyes widely, and saw herself and Fletcher kissing! '_OH GOOD GRAVY IN HEAVEN! GOD HELP ME WHEN I HAVE TO EXPLAIN THIS TO AL!' _Li-san thought to herself as tears in her mind flowed down her face T.T. When she found out that Fletcher hadn't stopped, she made a gutteral sound to clear her throat, and he abruptly released his kiss from her, and laughed nervously. She couldn't help but laugh, but then was concerned as she saw the injuries he had.

"Fletcher! Are you okay?" she asked him and tried to see if his wounds were minor or major.

"I'm okay.. Listen Li you were right about the doctor." Fletcher started. Li-san put on a goofy looking 'WELL DUUUH!' face and interrupted.

"No kidding, I thought he seemed pretty dangerous when he stuck a needle in my arm, and then just now tried to cut open my flesh. Thanks for the update." she said sarcastically, and Fletcher only sweatdropped.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Fletcher said and the two stood up. When they turned around to leave, something lurking in the shadows lunged! A piercing yell and scream filled the house.

"Can't... go... on... any... longer!" Ed finally gasped for breath and completely fell to the ground. The whole military stood around Ed, including friends. Everyone dispersed when they saw a raging 'mad woman' rushing down to him.

"OH YES YOU CAN! GET ON YOUR FEET ED DON'T MAKE ME HAVE TO HURT YOU!" Hazel threatened.

"I'm tired! Hungry! AND MOST IMPORTANTLY I WANNA GO TO BED OKAY?! I'M TIRED! JUST GO ON WITHOUT ME AND SAVE LI AND FLETCHER!" Ed whined.

"I didn't want to do this." Hazel said as she shook her head, rolling up her sleeves. Ed didn't like the looks of this, and quickly tried to get up before he would receive a nasty attack from Hazel.

"NO WAIT! WAIT I'M UP I'M UP DON'T HURT ME!" Ed cried and Hazel smiled.

"Good. NOW MOVE IT! WE'RE ALMOST THERE!" Hazel said in triumph, they were only 10 minutes away from the house (--) .

Li-san watched in horror as Fletcher yelled and hissed in pain as a claw grasped onto his shoulder, blood splurting onto the floor. The doctor had pulled him back, already looking more like a robot than a human.

"Enough.. is... enough... It's time..." the doctor said angrily and transmuted Li's automail into a pole. As he transmuted the pole, the doctor laughed as he whacked Fletcher over the head almost a thousand times. This was it, Fletcher was going to die... but, he died for a good cause. He had saved Li, and that was all that mattered to him. The pain began to become too much for him to handle, and soon he'd die. He waited..and waited...and- wait, wasn't this a little too long? And why did the whacking stop all of a sudden?!

Fletcher opened his eyes to see the doctor, a strange look on his face. He turned his neck around to see Li, holding her arm up, a deathstare on her face. The doctor could see that she wasn't afraid, and that she wasn't going to hold back. Velshtien never really had any competition; but this girl, in her eyes he could see the fire burning.

"Step away from Fletcher. Don't make me have to kill you." Li-san said angrily, and the doctor obeyed, hands on his head. Fletcher grimaced at the pain when he stood up, and stumbled over to Li. When he had her support, she aimed her mini canon right at the doctor.

"Wait!...You... Said you wouldn't.. Fire!" Velshtien cried when he realized she was going to do it anyways. He quickly changed the automail into a strong shield.

"I never said I wouldn't. It's too risky to let you live, even if you're not the real doctor." Li-san said sternly.

"But you'll destroy your automail!..." the doctor protested.

"I'm friends with a mechanic, I think I'll live." Li-san countered and without further warning she fired the canon, having the doctors' screams being drowned out by the huge blasting noise that penetrated the walls of the house; a huge gap left to be showing.

"Did you see that?! It came from the doctor's house!" Hazel cried as she stopped, letting the others take a breather.

"That was probably Li who did that.." Ed said as he breathed heavily, hands pressed against his knees as he squatted for breath.

"I hope they're okay! I'll go ahead while you guys take a rest. You earned it." Hazel said and rushed up to the house, the military men folllowing while the rest took a breather.

"So..Fullmetal, how've you been? Life been more hectic now that Hazel and Li are back?" Mustang joked. Ed had to give a laugh and a sly smile on that question.

"Yeah... I guess... More or less really." Ed answered and the group watched as the military men with Hazel in front went up to the house.

---------------------------------------------------------

"So Fletcher... you must've been pretty brave to have fought for me. Thanks a lot, otherwise I don't think I'd be here right now. Probably some mutant cyborg chimera..." Li-san said as she searched around for her automail.

"N-no problem. Li.. Say um... what are you doing?.." Fletcher asked as he sat down, exhausted and aching all over.

"Finding... ah! There it is.." Li-san said and picked up her automail. She transmuted it back to, a very destroyed and disfigured arm. She took a deep breath, and reattatched the arm. It made a clink, and Li had to suck in air to not scream. Her face contorted in pain, making Fletcher nervous as he walked over to her and slumped a little.

"Are you all right?" he asked in concern.

"I'm... all right just my nerves. I'll be okay. Time to fix you up though." Li-san said as she smiled weakly. She looked around the room for a moment, and found a first aid kit, and tended to Fletcher's wounds. She first took care of his gash from the doctor's claws. She took out some alchohol and a clean cotton ball, and told him, "This might sting a little bit." As she dabbed it on his wound, he hissed out in pain. As soon as that part was over, he sighed with relief. As she took off his undershirt now, she bandaged him up and made sure it was secured.

"Wow...Ouch.." he mumbled to himself.

"How is it feeling? At least the blood is gone now. It shouldn't take long to heal." Li said and then took out some more bandages. She then tended to his minor injuries, putting band-aids on and other things to make sure he was taken care of properly.

"Say Li? Are you sure you aren't some kind of nurse?" Fletcher complimented. Li-san laughed.

"I'm pretty sure. I'm squeemish (sp?) around blood. I'd never be a good doctor at all." Li-san replied happily. The two were silent for a while, and Li's goofy smile disappeared when she had Fletcher's attention. He didn't like the looks at this, and he was prepared somewhat for what she was about to tell him.

"What is it, Li?" he was brave enough to ask. She gave him a stern look, and then looked at the ground for a moment. She stared at the ground for a few more seconds, but then turned back, looking straight into Fletcher's eyes.

"They must be up there!" Hazel cried as she pointed to where the blasted hole in the wall was. As the military and Hazel rushed up, they could see two figures sitting on the ground, both looking familiar...

"...Fletcher.. listen that-... That kiss... I...well, it-.."

"LI! FLETCHER!" a familiar voice called their names.

"It's Hazel! Come on Li let's go! I don't wanna stay here another second!" Fletcher cried, running away from what Li was going to say. She only grimaced slightly, and followed. This was going to be harder than she thought. As she walked on out as well, she saw Hazel rejoicing as she rushed up to her best friend and gave her the hug of her life.

"Oh...God... Hazel!...Crushing.. BONES! NEED... TO BREATHE!" Li-san joked and Hazel was just glad Li was okay.

"How come everytime we come here you somehow get into trouble? Honestly Li can't you just be more careful! AND YOU WENT INTO A STRANGERS HOUSE?!" Hazel cried in disbelief. Oh boy, lecture time Li-san had told herself.

"Ane-san..." Li-san whined. "It's not my fault! I mean... it was snowing! What did you want us to do, freeze our asses out here?! Besides, I was careful!" Li-san added.

"Oh really? _Careful_? WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR ARM?!" Hazel shouted when she noticed that it was badly burned/melted, and deformed.

"Uh... well see, that's a long story. I sorta uh... blew it up along with the doctor?.. Maybe?... But I put it back!" Li-san explained sheepishly with a nervous chuckle as Hazel went all white from amazement of how Li-san was o careless as to blow up her own automail! Li was about to add more, but then turned to the military who seemed to be inspecting the house. "YOU DON'T HAVE TO LOOK FOR THE DOCTOR! **HE DEAD**!" Li-san shouted simply.

"So that's why there was a huge bang coming from the house. You blew him to smitherenes!" Ed congratulated when he and the rest of the crew came foward. Li-san's eyes went wide when he saw Mustang and Hawkeye.

"MUSTANG! HAWKEYE! HEARD YOU TWO GOT _MAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEDD_!" Li-san chanted happily. Hazel slapped her hand to her forehead.

"I see you're doing well Li-san." Mustang said sternly while Riza started to laugh.

"Yes. You do seem all right..." Riza said happily, and then looked to Fletcher. "What about the boy?" she asked as she pointed to Fletcher who was now telling Russell of how brave he was. Li-san smiled weakly, still remembering how she had accepted Fletcher's kiss, so strong it was and... inviting for some apparent reason perhaps...

"He'll... be fine. He just needs some rest. He's been through a lot. I was out cold most of the time he was fighting for me." Li-san said simply. Riza could tell something was wrong, but before she could ask, Al rushed by her and tackled Li to the ground.

"Ouch..." was all Li could say.

"Li! Oh thank goodness you're okay!" Al said happily as he was breathing heavily on top of her, a smile on his face as a bead of sweat ran down part of his bangs. It dropped onto the tip of her nose. She scrunched a little and laughed.

"Yeah of course! I'm 100 tip top shape!" Li-san said, and Al grinned, but then noticed that her arm was missing.

"Li what happened to your automail?!" Al cried in disbelief.

"It's a long story.." Li-san said when she and Al got up. They blushed a little, and Al decided to carry her back to the Rockbell's when everyone decided to finally come back. All along the way, Fletcher couldn't help but feel like a total idiot. He should have known that Li already had a boyfriend... and of course, it HAD to be Al; the boy he had claimed to be four years ago to keep studying their father's work.. Li could tell that Fletcher wasn't happy, and not pleased AT ALL. Only once did she turn back to just glance at Fletcher, and then stared at the Rockbells house the whole way there, feeling so guilty and so terrible of how Fletcher must have been feeling right then and there.

If one thing was true though, it was how brave Fletcher had been. Even Li had realized that. The only thing was, now she was caught in a love triangle (of all the things Li had thought to herself) and she didn't know how all of this would fair out.. _'For one... at least Fletcher was there for me.. Today, **he **__was my knight in shining armor..'_ Li thought to herself with a smile on her face.

A/N: okay! that's the end of chappie 4! hopefully chapt 5 will be here soon as to i need to make a few more adjustments! again.. plz R&R pweeaaase :) lol jk jk u don't have to if u don't wanna.. anywayz, yeaaa stay tuned for chapt 5! byebyez! -Li


	5. What Happens Before Leaving Risenbool!

A/N: hello all. chapter 5 is here :) hope u like it. plz R&R and sorry that is has taken me a while to fix everything. btw, chapter 1 has been revised completely so it's very different. i replaced a lot of stuff, so u might wanna check it out.. anyways, hope u like the chapter! Happy Reading!

**Chapter 5: What Happens The Day Before Heading Off to Central!**

As the group finally made it back to the house, they bid farewell to Havoc, Mustang, Riza, and the military.

"We'll come visit you guys real soon!" Hazel waved.

"More like we'll be probably seeing you what.. maybe in two days?! We got you all presents!" Li-san shouted as she waved as well once on the ground, balancing herself on Al slightly. As the car backed away, and then sped off (since it was being driven by Hawkeye again after they had gotten some more fuel) , the group went inside. They couldn't believe the time. It was only 12:25!

"Well, that sure was chaos. And it's only been one day since you guys came here! Man!" Ed sulked in a jokingly fashion. Li-san stretched, and couldn't help but put on a nervous smile when she saw Pinako faint, seeing her deformed automail.

"Oops..." was all Li could say. As Pinako and Winry worked on Li's new automail, the two decided to also fix up Hazel's. Both needed upgrades. During the wait, the group decided to chat for a while.

"So Li, Hazel... what were you guys doing on the Other Side? I'm really wanting to hear all about your adventures over there." Ed asked.

"Other Side?" Russell repeated.

"It was really fun! We got to build rockets and stuff!" Li-san cried happily.

"Well, Li was almost going to be part of the rocket when her jacket caught a hold of one of the engines pointy spots. Luckily she managed to get away but had her jacket go flying in the air and then came back down to a burnt crisp. That left her in tears." Hazel couldn't help but add, and Li-san sweatdropped.

"Hey! Don't bring that kinda stuff up! I mean... yeah it was burnt but when we got here I fixed it!" Li-san lied. Al couldn't help but laugh.

"Now now, let's not get over our heads." Hazel said with a laugh.

"Don't worry Li, it's the funny things that make me love you even more." Al said happily and she couldn't help but blush, sweatdropping knowing Fletcher was listening.

"See they had science on that side, no alchemy. Science was the closest." Hazel explained as she sipped some more of her tea after watching the couple happily gaze into eachothers eyes.

"_Other Side?_" Russell repeated.

"Really? No alchemy? What kind of side is happy without alchemy?!" Fletcher asked in disbelief.

"Dunno really. Besides, it's not like it's a truly bad thing. It makes you actually, 'work out' for a while ya know? I mean, we rely on alchemy so much that sometimes we forget how to do things on our own. Like, we use alchemy for easy stuff." Li-san explained.

"Hm... true but still, alchemy _is_ the ultimate science on earth! How could a world exist without alchemy?! It's just absurd!" Fletcher exclaimed.

"You're just saying that cause you've lived with alchemy all your life. Try not using it for two weeks I dare you." Hazel joked.

"THERE'S AN OTHER SIDE?! WHAT OTHER SIDE?! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO WANTS TO KNOW ABOUT THIS?!" Russell roared in frustration. Hazel couldn't help but laugh as she had to settle Russell herself.

"Russell, where we come from it's.. kind of different. See Li-san and I live on the Other Side with no alchemy. We take the role of our counterparts. For example, Al, on the Other Side there's a counterpart of you by the name of Alfons Heiderich. There's also Hughes who's an officer, and Gracia who's a hotel (was it hotel or like, flower shop?) owner. There's some other characters that cease to amaze me, like for Barry the Chopper he's one of Alfons's co-workers." Hazel explained.

"So... basically, the Other Side is just really where our counterparts live without alchemy, right? Why is there another side?" Russell asked.

"Dunno really. There just is. Oh! Guess what! On the Other Side and all we were telling everyone our stories from this side with alchemy!" Li-san cried happily.

"Oh? How'd they react?" Al asked.

"They laughed." Hazel answered. The group started to laugh at that one, and soon settled down.

"So how about you guys? How've you been? Anymore updates that you can remember perhaps?..." Li-san asked, hoping something interesting besides having Riza and Roy getting married and having kids, and Hughes getting another kid to brag about.

"And no funny stuff this time Edward." Hazel said and stared daggers at him. He sweatdropped.

"Hmmm... now that you mention it there was this girl who called us about a year ago from Iron Town.." Al said as he thought about it.

"_Armony_? Are you that forgetful Edo-kun?" Li-san teased slightly. Ed shook his head.

"No this person was different. It wasn't Armony, she only would call wondering where both of you were. This girl was different actually.. She sounded, a lot older for one thing." Ed replied.

"Ooooo! Maybe she's a stalker!" Li-san chimed. Everyone formed a sweatdrop. Li-san laughed a little bit but sobbed when she was hit over the head.

"KNOCK IT OFF!" Hazel flamed.

"Ane-saaaaaaaaaan!" Li-san whined. Hazel couldn't help but sigh loudly. She regained herself, and then turned to Ed.

"Hmm... If it wasn't Armony, then who would call us from your house?..." Hazel wondered as she tilted her head a little bit.

"Well, I already told you. Some older girl asking where you guys were. She said she knew you when you were younger." Ed answered.

"Asking for where we were?.. What reply did you give? You didn't tell her, did you?" Li-san asked.

"Nope. Just said you guys went off on your own adventure really." Al answered simply with a grin on his face.

"Hmmm... who would call us from IronTown that we don't know but she knows us. Did she tell you where she actually lives or-.." Li-san started but Ed raised a hand.

"Um... She said she was from some town called Goldensburg, but moved to Iron Town to see you and when she didn't know where you guys were Armony filled her in and she called here." Ed said. At that, Li jumped up suddenly.

"G-Goldensburg?! NO WAY! KIRI-CHAN MUST'VE CALLED YOU!" Li-san exclaimed.

"Who?.." the whole group ask, including Hazel.

"**Kiri-chan**!" Li-san repeated in an angry tone, and then turned to Hazel, a broad smile on her face. "Hazel you must remember Kiri! She was like, the greatest older sister we ever had!" Li-san exclaimed. Uh-oh, was Hazel's first reaction. Had Li-san already lost her memories, _again_? No way she couldn'tve! But then... how could she not know who Kiri-chan was? Maybe if she looked deep inside her character's self, she could remember who exactly this, _Kiri-chan_ was. If Li knew her, then why wasn't there any record about it to Hazel? Then again.. Li was one for going with the flow and bonding with her character.

_'Okay Hazel... think hard now...'_ she thought to herself, and concentrated. The room grew silent, everything grew black as she concentrated on this person. Soon, images began to flood through her mind. An image of a girl who was older than Li and herself by 6 years, dark chocolate hair with bangs covering all of her left eye as shorter bangs hung slightly over her right. She had a kind smile, she even seemed loving. Yes, memories started to come back to Hazel's mind, showing good times that the three had shared as Hazel and Li were on their 'journey' before meeting Ed and Al.

Yes... happy memories, the problem was of how Kiri-chan came into view. Did the two make their own plot once more? Oh well, more friends the better! Finally, the images faded, and the room's colors were beginning to fill our the dark surroundings. Hazel opened her eyes, and saw everyone was staring her, having a sweatdrop form behind her head.

"Hazel? You remember Kiri-chan, don't you?" Li-san asked in a worried tone, cocking her head to one side.

"Yeah of course! She was the best ever! Wow I'm glad she doesn't know where we've been for the past 4 years... We'd better go visit her after Central. Although, what comes before Central?.." Hazel thought.

"East Headquarters? Rush Valley?" Li-san chimed. Hazel snapped her fingers.

"Yeah true. We also have to get to some other places as well. Oh like Dublith! Can't forget Izumi and Sig and Mason!" Hazel exclaimed. The group nodded. After a while, Li-san spoke up.

"So um... Ed, Al, what happened after we left? I'm sure you got word of how the Fuhrer was a Homunculous." Li-san asked.

"And what about the other homunculi? What happened to them? Well.. Besides Lust, Gluttony, Envy, and ummm... War, Hate, and Greed?" Hazel added. The whole group was silent for a few moments, and that's when Ed spoke up.

"It was hard.. but we managed to defeat the Fuhrer and sent him back to The Gate." he explained.

"Oh? So why is that so hard to say?" Hazel wondered.

"Because his 'son' died in the process. It was thanks to him that we were able to defeat the Fuhrer. At Central, a lot of the military men have been buried in the cemetary. It's all thanks to the Fuhrer." Al added.

"Oh..." Li-san said and the room fell silent. Before anyone could say anything else, they heard the door open with Winry standing there.

"Okay! Who wants to go first now? Hazel? Li-san?" she asked.

"I'll go." Hazel said and excused herself as the door closed. There was another silence brewing, until Li-san spoke.

"Say! Say! I heard that you became a State Alchemist Al, how'd you pass? What did you show the new Fuhrer?" Li-san asked with a smile on her face.

"Huh? Oh! Hmm... Well, first I transmuted some of the elements into a suit of armor, and then I transferred a portion of my soul to the armor. It just came naturally to me so I thought that it would be a good time to try out for State Alchemist. As you know I made it and my name is LostSoul Alchemist." he said with a laugh as he put a hand behind his head.

"Awww! SO KAWAII!" Li-san cried and gave Al a hug. Al blushed. Li-san then looked toward the Tringham brothers, wondering if one of them were alchemists.

"Say, Russell, Fletch, are any of you guys State Alchemists?" she asked them.

"I'm going to try out for Major this year. Brother's a State Alchemist though." Fletcher said with a smile. Russell only gave a shrug.

"Oh? What's your name supposed to be?!" Li-san asked.

"I'm called the FrenzyLeaf Alchemist..." Russell said, a little embarrassed by the name.

"OoooooooooOoooooooooooh! COOL! COOL! What can you do Russell?!" Li-san cried.

"Nothin' special really.." he said with a shrug.

"NOTHING SPECIAL?! BULL! I BET YOU CAN DO SOMETHIN' REALLY COOL! LEMME SEE LEMME SEE PLEEEEEEEEEASE?!" Li-san pleaded, exclaiming wildly. Russell sweatdrop.

"Aren't we a little bit too old to be umm... what's the word I'm looking for... Oh right! Aren't we a little too old to be childish? What kind of Other Side did you come from?" Russell asked in his monotonous tone.

"Oh.. right right! Sorry, sorry! Just that I can't help it I'm just being me so don't mind me I just wanna know what you can do! Pleeeeeeeeeease?! Besides... when I act like this I'm much cuter! (russell in backround: _Suuuure_...)" Li-san exclaimed. Russell sucked in some air, and couldn't help but put on a smile.

"Okay okay. I'll show you, but just once." Rusell said as he waved his finger up and down.

"YAY!" Li-san exclaimed. Once again, Russell sweatdropped. _'What is up with this kid?'_ he thought.

As the group walked outside, Russell placed a small seed in the ground.

"Ooooh, what's gonna happen next?!" Li-san exclaimed, eyes sparkling.

"Wait for it." Russell said and drew out his circle in seconds. When he placed his hand on it, the circle glowed and the seed began to float in midair! It began to brighten in color, changing to a light green that was so bright. Soon enough, the seed began to change, and transformed into a huge plant with thorns!

"WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Li-san cried, eyes bulging.

"Wait for it..." Russell continued. The plant began to move around, and soon enough the bud on top opened to show a mouth and teeth!

"OHMYGOODNESS GRACIOUS! IT'S A MAN-EATING PLANT! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Li-san cried and instinctively rushed behind Al. Russell walked over to the 'man-eating plant', and gave it a pat on the nose. The plant roared, but then seemed to be purring.

"Nah. It's just a living, breathing plant. Won't do any harm to you because you're my friend. It only goes after enemies. Besides, I'm not inexperienced with alchemy." Russell explained. When Li calmed down, she walked over to the plant and began to pet it. The plant grinned.

"Kawaii! Now that I think about it, the plants kinda cute." Li-san said and giggled. The scene changed to a person standing in the doorway of the Rockbell's house, a frown on her face. _'What's Li up to **now**?'_

"What seems to be the ruccuss out here?" a voice asked and everyone turned to see Hazel, her automail glistening in the sunlight. She smiled happily, seeing as to how her new automail was so shiny.

"WOW! WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW! Hazel your automail is soooo cool!" Li-san exclaimed as she rushed over, the plant following.

"Yeah I know right?!" Hazel cried but then her eyes bulged as she shrunk about a few inches, wondering what the shadowy tall figure behind Li was.

"Huh? What's wrong Ane-san?" Li-san asked and Hazel pointed.

"WHAT.. IS... THAT?!" Hazel shrieked. As if in response, the plant roared with a shriek of it's own.

"GYAH!" Hazel wailed and Li-san laughed.

"Don't worry Hazel!" Li-san said and slapped her friend on the back.

"Ow! Li!" Hazel spazzed. There was a whistling noise right after, and the two watched the plant move over to Russell who gave the plant a good pat, and then activated the circle. The plant screamed once, and finally became the small seed it had been before. Hazel and Li rushed over to Russell as he put the little seed in his pouch.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Hazel cried.

**"THAT** WAS AMAZING! DO IT AGAIN!" Li-san cried and received a fist to her forehead.

"KNOCK IT OFF!" Hazel roared and Li sweatdropped. Russell laughed.

"Sorry Hazel, you were late for the demonstration. Please, forgive me." Russell said and in his gentleman like way took Hazel by the hand and kissed it. Hazel blushed bright pink, and Li-san smirked.

"Yeah! You shoulda seen it Li! Your boyfriend's an amazing alchemist!" Li-san exclaimed, and then looked to see Fletcher out of the circle. She frowned, and then added with a big grin, "Boy I can't wait to see what Fletcher's gonna do for the exams! I'll be there for sure that's all I have to tell ya." Li-san cried, making sure to not have Fletcher feel left out. Fletcher smiled weakly, and walked over to the group. Hazel sighed, and then motioned Li to get her automail fixed up.

"Li! You're up next!" Winry called from the house.

"Comin!" Li-san called back. "Don't leave me out of whatever you guys are gonna be doin mmkay?" Li-san added with a wink as she ran inside the house, slamming the door. Hazel sweatdropped.

"Soooooo... What did I miss?" Hazel wondered.

As the group decided to stay outside, they chatted a little bit more before actually going inside to eat. The time was now about 4:30.

"So Hazel, what were you doing beside building rockets on the Other Side?" Ed asked curiously.

"Well... it's kind of embarrassing but we hung out a lot with gypsies." Hazel said with a sweatdrop.

"Really? That sounds... _interesting_." Ed said. _'Considering I made it up yeah.'_ Hazel thought with a laugh.

"Ahahaha... Yeah... But really they were nice and all. We also got to see Envy..." she added.

"ENVY! How?! Did you see my dad too?!" Ed blurted and everyone gave him a stare, including Al.

"What? Hoenheim? Why would we see him on the Other Side?" Hazel asked, confused.

"Well... Al, I didn't tell you this but... Truth is Hazel I would have been on the Other Side with you guys a long time ago because well.." Ed started.

"Brother?! How would you be on the Other Side?! Why is dad there?!" Al cried.

"See... Al... Hazel... when we were fighting against the Fuhrer you were with Winry and them... Near the last second Pride had launched his attack. Mustang was already out cold from his fight before, and Hawkeye had rushed him to the hospital. It was just me against the Fuhrer. When he launched his final attack on me, I felt like I was turned to stone. Everything shut down for me.. but I was at The Gate." Ed explained.

(_Flashback)_

_"Urgh... Where am I?.." Ed wondered as he looked around. Suddenly, he saw before him a familiar looking Gate. He rushed over to it and put his hands on it. A flashback occurred to him, when he first visited this Gate. He realized that his very first trip to The Gate was when he and Al had just transmuted their mother!_

_"Why are--" crrrrr!! bzztt!! ssshh... click! (paused)_

"YOU DIED?!" Hazel screamed.

"Just for a moment!" Ed exclaimed.

"BROTHER!!!! I HAD NO IDEAAA!" Al said emotionally and tackled Ed to the ground in a bear hug.

"Get offa me Al! I'm trying to tell a dramatic story here!" Ed cried and Al sobbed.

"Brother.. YOU'RE SO MEAN!" Al cried and stormed inside as he slammed the door. There was a silence for a moment, and Ed coughed.

"Anyways.. I'll apologize to Al later. Where was I again?..." he asked.

"When you were at The Gate." Fletcher answered, really into Ed's story.

"Oh right! So anyways.. I was at The Gate.."

_"Why are you here?" a voice snapped. Ed turned around to see The Truth standing right there before him._

_"You!" he pointed._

_"So?" Truth countered and Ed sweatdropped._

_"Well? Am I dead or what?" Ed asked in a grumpy tone._

_"Seems like it. Unless you want to pay a toll or something. I could always use an extra arm, or even a leg from you." Truth joked._

_"Shaddup! If I'm dead.. then fine I accept death... Just make sure that my little brother is okay after all of this is over with. I want him to know that.. that I'm gonna be all right and that if we don't see eachother I'll find a way." Ed said in a determined tone. He wouldn't dare try to mess with the Truth. Truth nodded with a shrug._

_"Will do... Surely. Now if you will, it's time for you to move on through The Gate." Truth said, almost smiling. Ed grmiaced as the Gate doors opened, and a blinding flash had come to his eyes. He shielded them with his hand, and started to walk foward. Suddenly though, he stopped when a strong voice called out to him._

_"Edward! Edward do not step through that GATE!" the voice called, and the Truth turned to see a man stand before them. He had glasses on, long dirty blonde hair in a ponytail, wearing a brown outfit and a white collar (i dunno how to describe his outfit.. sadly)._

_"Dad?! What are you doing-- how did you get here?!" Ed cried in disbelief._

_"No time for chit chat Edward, I'm here to save your life. It's the least I can do." Hoenheim said and threw his son away from the Gate._

_"Dad?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Ed cried. Truth only grimaced, and folded his arms across his chest._

_"Well? If someone doesn't step into the Gate in a few seconds I'll just have to shove you both in." Truth muttered under his breath._

_"I'm going, I'm going." Hoenheim said and stepped through the Gate. Ed rushed foward toward it, the light still blinding him a little. The only thing he could see was his father in the way, a smile on his face._

_"Dad! DAD!" Ed cried._

_"Don't worry Edward. I'm only going on to the Other Side. Perhaps I'll be able to meet up with Hazel and Li-san... Until then, give my regards to everyone." Hoenheim said with a sad smile and waved goodbye as The Gate closed._

_"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!" Ed cried and banged on the Gate until he was sent back to his body, and woke up in his own bed groggily with his brother, Winry, Pinako, and Den standing over him with worried looks._

"And that's pretty much it. I guess you guys never saw our dad then huh?" Ed said. The two shook their heads no.

"We never ran into him. Though there were reports from Officer Hughes that a man with your fathers description was just in.. but suddenly disappeared." Li-san answered.

"The only people we saw were Envy; he was in his dragon form... A form he acquired by travelling through The Gate and onto the Other Side. He became famous really, everyone saying how there was a mythical dragon in a castle." Hazel started. "Wow that's something new. I would think Envy would be happy with being famous." Ed joked.

"Maybe." Hazel replied with a shrug.

"It was a joke." Ed said.

"Not really that funny." Hazel commented and Ed sweatdropped. A short silence occurred, and Hazel continued when she snapped her fingers remembering the other two people she and Li had 'seen'.

"We also saw Scar and Lust.. their counterparts as travelling gypsies with the others. It was kinda creepy.." she added with a shudder.

"Ahahaha! I wouldn't blame you either." Ed said with a laugh. There was another short silence, and everyone saw that it was finally beginning to darken. They had been talking for a while now, not knowing how time slipped by here. It was 6:30. (a/n: okay i know i'm really extendin the time but i don't know how they can talk for so long! so i sped up the time) When the group walked back inside, they saw Li smiling happily with her new alchemy.

"Lookin' good Li. So what'sit this time? Still a mini-canon?" Ed asked with a grin.

"Nope! EVEN BETTER! A **BIG** CANON!" Li-san cried and Ed's mouth dropped, sweatdrops running behind his head as dark lines were under his eyes.

"You're Kidding!" Ed cried. Li-san smirked.

"Try me." she said and pointed her left arm at Ed. Ed ducked for cover with his eyes squeezed shut as Li-san laughed her head off.

"You're so cruel!" Ed roared when he saw Li rolling on the floor laughing.

"Kidding, kidding! No it's better than a canon Ed cause Winry helped me out with it! I couldn't decide what I wanted so she chose for me and I'm glad she did!" Li-san said with a sweatdrop.

"Does Winry _always_ give you what you want with alchemy?" Ed said and raised a brow.

"That's only cause she's nice Ed, unlike a certain shrimpy someone I know with one strand of yellow hair sticking outta his forehead." Winry commented and Ed spazzed.

"I'm not short remember?! I've grown SEE?!" Ed roared.

"In both of my legs Winry put in a really really really sharp blade there and in my left arm it's still a canon, but this time I get to have an aiming thingy in it!" Li-san cried happily.

"You're one with **_big_ **words Li." Hazel said with her eyes narrowed, a smile on her face.

"Brilliant I know. Better yet, **pure genius**." Li-san replied as she scratched her chin with her eyes narrowed with a smile.

"What about your right arm Li? I'd be suprised if nothing dangerous was in that one." Ed snapped.

"Huh? Oh I forgot about my right arm. That's okay though I'll just do what you normally do with your automail Edo-kun ol' pal." Li-san said and clapped her fingers, transforming her automail into a swordlike position.

"Of course." Ed sulked.

"Ed, if you want me to put something in your left leg or right arm I'd be glad to." Winry suggested and Ed just sighed.

"Nah. It's okay. What about you Hazel? Wouldn't you have something in your arm?" Ed asked curiously.

"Naah. Unlike some other cripple person I know I don't need that kinda stuff to prove that I'm a cool alchemist." Hazel said, turning to Li's direction. Li stared back, eye twitched.

"**ARE YOU SAYING THAT I'MMA DAMN HELPLESS CRIPPLE?!**" she burst out saying as she chased Hazel around the room.

"_NOO! I WOULD_ **_NEVER_**!" Hazel called back.

"ARE YOU BEING **_SARCASTIC_** WITH ME?!" Li-san roared.

"_Noooooooo_ I wouldn't **_think_** of it!" Hazel answered and laughed when Li-san erupted into a burst of anger as she fumed.

"Both of you calm down before you hurt yourselves!" Pinako shouted angrily and the two obeyed as they stopped abruptly. Li-san though slipped on the rug and bumped into Hazel who landed on Den's tail which ended up in a yelping bark as Den crashed into a vase that shattered. Everyone sweatdropped, including the two girls. Den just whined and yawned after that, and left on his own accord. There was a short silence.

"You're paying for that." Pinako finally said.

"Who? Me?" both Hazel and Li-san asked.

"BOTH OF YOU! Actually, considering that both of you were responsible the vase's price will be doubled out of your paychecks!" Pinako scolded and the two teens sulked.

"See what you got us into Li? You just can't take a joke!" Hazel whispered.

"WHAT KINDA JOKE IS THAT?!" Li-san shouted.

"That's enough out of you two! Everyone just go into the family room!" Pinako yelled and everyone obeyed, afraid of what Pinako would do if they didn't!

As night finally came, everyone was getting ready for the trip to Central. As Li yawned and decided to catch some 'zzzzs', she looked out the window to see Fletcher who was staring up at the moon. She thought that this would be the best time to talk to him.

"Fletch?" Li-san asked when she walked outside. Fletcher seemed to not have noticed her. "Fletcher?" Li repeated. This time Fletcher turned around and put on a suprised look before he acted casual.

"Oh. Hi Li." was all he said.

"What're you doing out here? Shouldn't you be headin' for bed too? We have a long journey ahead of us to Central." Li-san asked.

"Whoever said I was going?" Fletcher asked defensively and then frowned. "Sorry." he apologized. As Li-san walked over next to Fletcher, she turned to him and for a brief moment he made eye contact before drifting away.

"Fletcher.. we need to talk." Li-san said. Fletcher nodded and made an 'mm-hm' noise, signaling he was listening.

"I'm listening... go on." he finally said, catching that she wouldn't start until he answered her.

"Like I started before... though it pains me to say this, that kiss back there it.. I mean, I thank you for waking me up and all but I.. as you could see when we were coming back I.. already have a boyfriend and all and I didn't mean to hurt you in any way really I just don't think that I'm the right kinda girl for you and stuff so.." Li said all at once, and took a breather. Fletcher could only smile sadly.

"It's okay Li. I'll be fine, don't worry." Fletcher said bravely.

"No you won't. I know that sounds negative and I'm really sorry Fletcher I didn't think this at all would happen... I mean could you forgive me?" Li-san asked. Fletcher didn't answer.

There was a knock on the door of the room that Li was staying in. Al wanted to give her a kiss goodnight; and let's just say more than just a plain old kiss. (oooo and aaah in backround) "Li?" he asked and opened the door to see no one. As he wondered where she was, he looked out the window to see her talking with Fletcher. He cocked his head to the side, and decided to see what was going on.

"Fletcher? Answer me, please? Can you forgive me?" Li-san asked. Fletcher didn't respond again, his bangs coverign his eyes. What was he supposed to do? Say he forgave her and end it at that? He was at a loss... he wanted to kiss her again.. "Fletcher please answer me!" Li-san pleaded this time, tears began to come to her eyes. All at once he looked up at her and suprised her when his lips connected with hers.

As Al was walking to the door, he saw out the window both Fletcher and Li kissing. His eyes grew wide, and he stopped in his tracks. Was Li.. two timing him?! No she... she couldn't there had to be a good explanation! _'Stop kissing..'_ he thought, his heart began to pound painfully in his chest. He kept telling himself he'd see Li push Fletcher back as suprised as he was. It didn't happen though, and he clenched a fist. After all this time... He walked away silently up the stairs.

Seconds later after the kiss (and after Al left, giving up hope) Li-san pushed Fletcher away, her eyes were wide and she breathed heavily.

"I forgive you." Fletcher finally said and Li gave him a hug before saying goodnight and walking inside. Fletcher stayed outside for a little bit before he went back into the house. As Li-san walked in and closed the door, she looked up to see Al walking slowly up the few stairs he had left and then down the hall. She rushed up to him and called his name. He stopped, but didn't turn around.

"Al?" Li-san called. He stayed silent. She walked a little bit closer to him. "Alphonse?" she asked again and he turned around abruptly to give her a glare. She pulled back and took two steps backwards, her eyes were suprised in shock.

"Is that _all_ you can say?" he hissed.

"What are you talking about?" Li-san asked, confused.

"Don't play dumb Li! I saw you, kissing with Fletcher. You seemed to be enjoying yourself." he said bitterly. Li-san gasped. He had seen them!

"It's a misunderstanding Al it wasn't what you think you saw!" Li-san tried to explain as she extended an arm to put on his shoulder. He shoved her away and she hit the floor. He almost was going to help her up, but he stood his ground.

"Then what was it?!" Al roared. Li-san didn't answer as she got up.

"It wasn't what you think. Al I love you.." Li-san said. Al was silent for a moment, trying to find words to speak. "Please let me explain that kiss wasn't-"

"It's too late Li. Too late... I've waited four years.. Four years I waited for you. I could have had plenty of relationships if I knew this was going to happen. Four years I waited and this is what happens. Twice you've hurt me.. You've made me worried, and then two timing me? You aren't what I thought you were anymore.. That's it we're through." Al said and turned away.

"Al no please don't... If you let me explain! Al! AAAAL!" Li-san shouted, but Al didn't answer. Even though this pained him as much as it did her, he could not admit the fact that there was another reason now, especially when everything was already said and done. He walked into his room, and slammed it shut. Li was left to cry as she hit the floor, shaking all over. What just happened? _'Please come back..'_ Li-san thought to herself, but knew it was too late. This was a nightmare, it had to be... It wasn't though, and she couldn't bring herself back up from any of this. Too much to bear, too much pain, she couldn't bring herself back up. "Too late.. Too late.." she kept muttering to herself...

Fletcher had seen it all, witnessed it all, heard it all. This was all of his fault he kept saying to himself. If he hadn'tve done what he did then none of this would have happened. Now, because of him Li was alone in this world... He couldn't believe it. The one that he loved he had hurt by having her lose her own love.. He wished he was a Time Alchemist so he could rewind all of this, but even he knew that you couldn't mess with time and space no matter how hard you tried. As he watched Li, crying and alone, he couldn't bear it anymore and decided to sleep in the family room the whole night through. As he put his head down on the cushion on the couch, he frowned, tears started to sting his eyes. He could only say one thing, over and over whether it was in his head or out loud...

"What have I done?"

A/N: lol i made complications for myself and al lol. well it'll be resolved... anyways, chapter 6 is on its way and if u haven't lost interest in this sequel, thanks lots! anyways, chapter 6 on its way so...yea lol. have a good week everyone!


	6. Sidetracked: Reunion!

A/N: well.. i'm not dead lol. and, i'd like to thank PotCloverrrr for the review 2day. it kinda made me guilty cuz i was going to put this on discontinued ... i had for a long time not had any muses in my mind and all of my stories kind of dropped from 2007. i tried getting back into the swing of thing but it didn't turn out as i had expected. but, a start of a new year and i vowed to get on with my fanfics!! So, hopefully i'll keep this updated so be on the lookout for chapter 7! thanks very much everyone, u've all been such good loyal fanfictioners. Peace!! o yea, on with Chapter 6! Happy Reading :)

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN FMA OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS!!**

**Chapter 6: A Little Sidetracted on Getting to Central**

_(flashback)_

_"Too late... Too late.." Li kept muttering to herself, trying to rock herself to sleep on the floor. A few minutes later Hazel got out of her room sleepily to see what all the cammotion (sp?) was about. She quickly went out of her sleepiness when she saw Li on the floor, tears rolling down her eyes._

_"Li what's wrong what happened are you okay? I heard shouting.." Hazel said, kneeling down to Li. Li didn't respond, she only cried and clutched onto Hazel in a hug. Hazel didn't know what was going on, she only knew her best friend in the world needed her most now, and could only imagine what could have made Li so sad. What happened outside? Finally when Li seemed to be settled enough, Hazel let Li spend the night with her, hoping in the morning she'd be feeling better..._

(present day morning...)

Hazel woke up groggily, looking around and then up at the ceiling. "What the hell happened?" she asked herself quietly, and then remembered. The sight of Li, crying on the floor, all... sad. It wasn't like Li to be _that_ sad, not unless something **BIG** happened. She turned to the side of the bed to see it was empty and the blanket was already pulled away. "Hm.. I hope she's going to be all right." Hazel said to herself and walked downstairs as she put on her sweatshirt and gloves. She turned the corner to bump into Li. The two hit the floor with a load groan.

"Owwwww! ...? ...! Hazel you're up! Mornin!" Li said brightly and extended a hand once she got up. Hazel got up herself, and then looked at Li.

"So Li, you seem to be okay this morning." Hazel commented.

"??" was all Li had on her face as a _lovely_ expression of, "What. The. Hell?"

"What? After last night I thought-"

"Oh." Li said abruptly and shortly, irritated at the mention of 'last night'. She then smiled brightly and took Hazel by the hand. "Don't worry Hazel I just had a bad tummy ache or somethin'." she joked with a wink. "C'mon c'mon the waffles are already waiting for us to eat them and digest them!" Li-san exclaimed.

"How informative." Hazel grimaced, but then smiled as she saw everyone smile at her.

"Good morning Hazel." Ed said with a smile. Hazel nodded back and then saw Russell as he was quietly eating some toast. She decided to give him a nice 'good morning' as well. She walked over and gave him a kawaii hug.

"Good morning Russell! You seem quiet." Hazel said happily and he smiled at her and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"Hello yourself.. Sorry I'm just, _concerned_." he replied and pulled her over to have her sit beside him.

"Concerned? About what?" Hazel asked.

"More like 'who'. Fletcher seemed really down in the dumps today, he hasn't come in to eat yet. He's still 'sleeping' on the couch. Somethin's bugging him but he just won't tell me." Russell said with a frown. At this Hazel listened.

"Now that you mention it... I was worried about Li yesterday night, but she seemed to have gotten over it... She's a little too happy though if you ask me." Hazel commented and the two watched Li-san clumsily either A) help Winry with something and then trip and fall, B) play with Ed's ponytail and teasing him endlessly, or C) just being... Li. They sweatdropped with a nervous grin when a crash was heard and Li was covered with pots and pans, with one bowel on her head. She grinned nervously, and then looked suprised when Al lent her a hand. She silently took it, and thanked him quietly with a small smile on her face. At this Russell pointed.

"Is it just me, or is there something wrong with this picture?" he asked.

"Yeah I get the feeling we missed something... Al normally wouldn't act that way towards Li.. I wonder if something big _did_ happen last night!" Hazel whispered out loud with a snap.

"And I bet my lil' brother has something to do with it as well. Those three do seem awfully suspicious." Russell observed with his eyes narrowed.

"Hm... Yeah. Maybe we should investigate? Ask questions?" Hazel suggested. Russell just shrugged and took a sip of coffee.

"Don't know. I think we just need to let those three take it easy. It's best not to force them to tell us. I mean, think about it those guys are the youngest out of our lil group we got goin' on here. We're like their older siblings, actually... we are." Russell said.

"Yeah, so wouldn't that mean we should be there for them?" Hazel questioned.

"Just give 'em some time. Maybe they'll be able to sort things out without our help. If they do need it, just sit back and relax." Russell started.

"Sit back and-- WHAT ARE YOU AN INCONSIDERATE OLDER BROTHER?!" Hazel roared but Russell put two fingers against her lips to shut her up.

"What I meant, was sit back and relax and wait for them to come to you. Er, wait for Li to come to ya. I'm sure if she's going through a hard time, she'll ask for your advice. Besides, hasn't she done it before?" Russell asked with a smirk. Hazel blinked. How did Russell know that Li had come to her for things concerning feelings and all that other stuff? Was he... _psychic_?

"Oh.. Okay." Hazel said quietly with a smile and then realized Russell was giving her 'that look'. "What? Do I have something on my face?" she asked and Russell laughed.

"No. I just forgot to give you something this morning." he replied and gave her a kiss. She turned red and then giggled. "Good morning." he said slyly and then continued to sip his coffee. She fidgeted a little bit in her seat before she cooled down, all the have Li tackle her to the ground.

"HAZEL! DAMMIT ALL YOU HAVEN'T TOUCHED YOUR WAFFLES! THEY'RE GETTING COLD NOW EAAAATTT!" Li-san wailed as she shoved waffles into Hazel's mouth.

"ASDFKHASDGKLASHGLWESDALASDFLEJDDFDAFLGEDDFGLASDFGYOED!!!!!" Hazel roared angrily as flames erupted and waffle bits flew across the floor. Everyone had sweatdrops and were silent. (Translation: No clue but let's just say Hazel was swearing at Li in some gibberish language with waffle shoved down her throat)

"Translation?" Li-san asked as she tilted her head to the side a bit in curiousity. Al seemed to smirk silently with a small smile on his face as his back was turned to the group staring at Hazel.

"Ewwwwwwwww." Ed sulked as waffle bits were everywhere on the floor.

"WHAT THE **HELL** IS **WRONG** WITH **YOU**! ARE YOU _TRYING_ TO KILL ME?!" Hazel flamed.

"N-no.. Your breakfast was gettin' cold so I decided to feed it to ya!" Li-san smirked.

"FEEDING ME?!?!!!?!?!?! LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII! I'M NOT A LIL KID AND YOU SHOULDN'T BE SHOVING FOOD DOWN MY THROAT! I COULDA _**DIED**_!" Hazel roared.

"Sorry..." Li-san sulked and walked away. Hazel had a question mark suddenly appear on top of her head as she tilted it to the side. That was odd, normally when their conversations started with someone in a raging fit, it'd end in random humor. Today was different; man did Hazel wish she could help Li out quicker now that she knew something was wrong. It was ashame the incident included Al. Ed walked over to Hazel, and then she looked at Ed as his eyes were narrowed. He pointed to the ground, and she did too.

"You're cleaning up everything you threw out on the floor, you realize that right?" Ed said and handed her a broom and water bucket. Hazel eye twitched and a vein popped.

"**LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!**"

"Sorry Hazel!"

As Hazel finally finished cleaning up the kitchen, she sweatdropped grumpily as she finally sighed and went outside. She looked around to see where everyone was, and found out they were all getting ready to head off to Central. She walked over to the car, and saw Fletcher already inside. She looked around again, and saw Ed and Al packing up.

"Say where's Russell and Li?" Hazel asked.

"I think Russell is getting stuff at his house and Li was seen a few moments ago. I don't know where she went but we're leaving once Russell comes back." Ed explained and Hazel nodded as she walked off. She first went up to Russell's house, and knocked on the door. She heard Russell call, "It's open!" and she walked inside and looked around. She gasped in amazement. _'It almost looks just like the Elric's house... Wow.'_ she thought to herself and without thinking, ran into a door. _'Stuuuupid.'_ she thought with a sweatdrop and then heard Russell call her name.

"Hazel? What're you doing up here?" he asked as he had a suitcase in hand.

"Thought I'd see where you went. I mean, since I had to clean up the mess myself." Hazel commented and he grinned nervously.

"Oh. Guess Ed sent you up here to get me? He told me I shouldn't take forever packing things, but this is the first time... er, second time I've been to Central. Ed must've been there like.. what? 800 times?" Russell said. Hazel laughed.

"Don't worry. You'll be fine. Say, have you seen Li?" Hazel asked.

"Oh... right about Li.." Russell said.

"What about her?" Hazel asked, alarmed.

"She told me she wanted me to tell you she was sorry for shoving food down your throat and that she didn't mean to make you angry. That and... she decided not to come to Central and ran off somewhere a little bit aways from the Rockbells. Beats me where though..." Russell said and Hazel gasped.

"WHAT!? ARE YOU SERIOUS?! LI I AM SO GOING TO KILL YOU THE NEXT TIME I SEE YOU!" Hazel flamed.

"Whoa! I didn't think you'd respond that way!" Russell cried, a little bit afraid. Hazel realized that he didn't get it, and she laughed.

"What I mean is that I'm worried about her. I express my feelings by yelling like that sometimes don't worry Russell I'm not really going to kill her." Hazel said as she put her hands in front of her with a nervous laugh. He only nodded silently, and then she walked out to go explain to Ed.

"EDWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD!" Hazel roared angrily as she ran charging down the hill like a wild boar. Ed sweatdropped and his eye twitched. He could see a head on collision and he ran for it! "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! STOP RUNNING AWAY FROM ME YOU SHRIMP!" Hazel dared to shout and Ed had a vein popped as the wild boar changed to being Ed chasing down Hazel.

"WHO ARE YOU TO BE CALLING ME SHORT?! GET BACK HERE I'M AS TALL AS YOU BY NOWWW!" Ed roared as Al packed the rest of the things, sighing and sweatdropping with a nervous smile.

"BUT I HAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO TELL YOU! LI ISN'T COMING WITH US TO CENTRAL AND I DON'T KNOW WHERE SHE WENT!" Hazel shouted back. This made Al turn, seemed he tuned in on what she had to say. Ed stopped chasing Hazel after he gasped for breath.

"Whaddaya mean... she's not comin?" he panted.

"You know exactly what I mean! We're not seriously going to leave without her, are we?" Hazel asked, worried.

"I dunno... We're on a tight scheduale, and here comes Russell. I guess we could spend a few minutes looking for her. Where did she run off to do you know?" Ed asked as he stiffined a little bit, cracking his back so he'd be unstiff. Hazel slapped him first. "Ow! What was that for?!" he roared.

"For cracking your back! Disgusting!" Hazel answered. "Russell said that she went a little bit aways from the Rockbell's house. So that must mean she went to the north of here." Hazel added.

"Hm. Then she must've gone into town or something. Let's go look." Ed said and then noticed Fletcher out of the car, a frown on his face. It seemed he wanted to join the search party.

"Count me in too Edward." Russell said when he put his things in the car.

"Okay then." Ed nodded. As they all started walking, Al didn't move. "You comin'? Al?" Ed asked with a confused look on his face. Al seeemed to not hear him and went off somewhere else. "Hmph. Wonder what's bugging him. Wouldn't he be the most worried out of all of us considering his girlfriend's lost?" Ed wondered and the four headed off. Al sat down in the backyard, and looked up at the sky. He still couldn't get over the fact of what he had seen last night, though his brother did have a point... _'Hmph... Why should I care?'_ Al wondered to himself and began to think that maybe something was wrong with him... Li did say that it was misunderstanding, and he did not give her the chance to explain... Maybe he was being selfish about this.

"That's it." he said to himself and rushed back to the group. "I may not know the true reason behind last night... but I'll find out sooner or later.. Besides... Li still means something to me, and I won't let this get to her. We need to get to Central." Al said.

Inside the Rockbell's house, there was a figure looking out the window. Pretty guilty, the person drew back and walked outside. It was in fact Li who was inside the house. She didn't think that they would care if she came or not. Now she felt even more guilty of having to put them through the trouble of searching for her.

"Oh crud... This didn't go as I had expected." Li said to herself with a frown and quickly went to the City, hoping to try and pretend she did run away. Boy what did she get herself into now?

As the group entered the City of Edger-Rain, they asked all over about Li. No one was able to help them out with the description. When Al caught up to them, he explained that he had some trouble before going out in search too for a cover up. When they all split up, it was Fletcher and Al that had noticed something... strange. For they had searched together, while Ed and Russell searched and Hazel on her own. They saw a mysterious hooded figure looking at them, and then running off.

"Think it's Li?" Al asked Fletcher. Fletcher just shrugged, and the two followed the stranger. They followed until they saw the hooded being jump up and onto a pipe. The person stared at them for a few moments, and then rushed off at full speed with the two young alchemists chasing the person down. Soon enough, the person led them to a downtown alleyway, and then jumped down to be in front of the boys.

"Who are you?" Al asked as he was ready for a battle, positioning himself. Fletcher did the same, his alchemy at hand. The person drew back the hood, and revealed itself to be a she. She had long dark brown hair, and long bangs that were spiked down to cover all of her left eye. She wore earrings no doubt, they were silver hoops; she even had three bracelets on each hand made of pure gold. She seemed to be much older than the two. She didn't answer, but smiled and stuck her tongue out as she made a run for it. The two followed until she was gone, and then noticed someone roaming around.

"Li?" Al asked and the girl turned in suprise, and then put on a weak smile.

"H-How'd you find me? Even I got lost after a while.." she said nervously, and the two boys could only sigh with relief.

As the three walked around the corner and finally into the city's square, Fletcher was curious.

"Say Li, did you happen to see this lady with dark brown hair who was wearing a cloak?" he asked. Li stopped and pondered for a few moments.

"Ummm... nope, why?" Li asked.

"I think that lady might've led us to you... I thought maybe you woulda seen her." Fletcher replied.

"Hmmm... well, I didn't see any lady, maybe it was your imagination?" Li suggested and shrugged, then looked at Al uneasily.

"Whatever the case was, at least we found you. We're not leaving you here in Risenbool." was all he responded by and turned away, hiding a small grin on his face, relieved she was all right. Li was a little bit confused about his reaction, but she smiled slightly. Fletcher felt guilty again, and then he walked off as the others followed. When they reached the gang, Hazel gave Li a piece of her mind.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING OUT HERE?! DO YOU REALIZE HOW WORRIED I WAS?! NEVER EVER EVER DO THIS AGAIN! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU REALLY THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO NOT COME WITH US TO CENTRAL!" Hazel lectured as she pointed to Li who was on the ground with sweatdrops. She seemed to have been pushed down into the ground after Hazel knocked her on the head.

"I'm sorry Hazel! Really really sorry! The truth is.. I was going to go to Central once you guys left! I just thought that maybe you could fit Winry in the car too if she wanted to come!" Li cried, half-lying.

"Winry was going to stay with Pinako anyways! She told us the night before to say hello to everyone for her! Don't you remember that?!" Hazel roared.

"N-no! Sorry!!! At least I'm here and we can go!.." Li squeaked and Hazel finally let loose and gave her friend a hug.

"Don't EVER do this to me, okay? I swear when I die it'll be because I'll be fretting where you are. And I shouldn't even be responsible for your whereabouts!" Hazel cried and then shoved Li back to the ground.

"Oww! Hazel you've made your point now can we get goin' already?!" Li sobbed chibi form and Hazel finally sighed with relief with a laughing yes. As everyone went back to the Rockbell's, nothing was said. It was... an _awkward_ moment..

_"SANDWICHES..."_ Li said in an eery tone all of a sudden. Everyone stared at her with sweatdrops, wondering why in the world would she all of a sudden say such a random word..., threateningly. She stared at them back and forth and then sweatdropped. "What? It felt really lonely in my noggin when it got all _siiiiilent_." she explained with a sweatdrop. Hazel, Russell, and Ed had their hands to their foreheads as they all rubbed their own temples while Al and Fletcher sweatdropped.

"Li you never cease to amaze me.." Ed said with a small sigh, and finally when the group reached the car they set sail for Central!...

As Ed drove the car, it seemed to be taking forever to get to where they were going. They seemed to be driving at about 20 miles an hour.

"ED CAN'T YOU SPEED THIS THING UP?!" Hazel shrieked, as she turned to Ed. Ed was hunched low as he gripped the steering wheel like his life was on the line as sweatdrops rolled down his face. He was in his 'one-hair piece' face with a concerned look on his face.

"SH-SHADDUP! I'M TRYIN TO DRIVE HERE!" Ed countered in a hissing tone.

"Are you like... a slow driver Ed? I thought you would have been more of the, reckless type if you want my honest opinion. Not some slow poke. I mean, I could've sworn a snail passed by us a few minutes ago." Russell commented, and Ed turned around as a vein popped, letting go of the wheel.

"WHY I OUGHTTA! ARE YOU SAYIN' I DON'T HAVE DRIVING SKILLS?! LET'S SEE YOU DRIVE THIS PIECE O' JUNK!" Ed roared at the top of his lungs. He then suddenly rammed right into Hazel as the car halted to a stop because he had put his foot on the brake abruptly. Hazel had a vein pop and Ed landed on the floor of the car with his legs up.

"Ed... Concentrate on Driving BEFORE I DRIVE MYSELF!" Hazel roared.

"Maybe we should let someone else drive who's not going to... well umm..-" Fletcher started but then sweatdropped, shutting his mouth when Ed stared daggers at him. As Ed climbed back in the front seat and started to drive again at a nice pace, Russell just had the nerve to say something else.

"All I'm saying, is that maybe you should let a proffesional driver drive." Russell said simply with a smirk as he shrugged his shoulders. This time, Ed lost his temper and completely forgot he was driving the car! He let go of the wheel and then dove in the back while Al sweatdropped with a pure look of 'OH-MY-GOD-WE'RE-GOING-TO-DIE!'.

"QUIT PICKING OUT MY BAD QUALITY DRIVING SKILLS! NOT ALL OF US ARE AS GOOD AS OTHERS! AT LEAST I'MMA BETTER ALCHEMIST THAN YOU!" Ed roared.

"What was that you short little runt?!" Russell roared.

"KNOCK IT OFF YOU TWO!" Hazel flamed. By this time, Li-san was in the corner of the car staring out the window, hoping to not be a part of the war in the car.

"BROTHER! THE WHEEL! **THE. WHEEEEL!!!!!**" Al cried as his voice hit a high note as he grabbed hold onto the wheel, trying to steer while Ed was trying to strangle Russell in the back, still having his foot on the gas pedal! Li-san watched horrifically as there were dark lines under her eyes as they finally passed some houses, and then off the road and back on it for a moment. How long had they been travelling? It must've been a few hours before all of this catastrophy happened! She then saw a familiar building... Her eye twitched, and she opened the window seeing military men have their eyes bulge.

"GET OUTTA THE WAY! OUT OF CONTROL CAR COMIN' YOUR WAY!" Li-san warned. They obeyed and as soon as the car sped toward them they jumped out of the way, watching it speed through the grounds of Central! It continued to screech on and off while you could hear a loud cammotion coming from the inside. All at once, a loud, annoyed booming voice filled the air.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON HERE?!" the low voice boomed and a snap followed by a loud boom put the car to a hault, with everyone and everything flying out of it. They all screamed and landed on the ground with a loud "THUD!". As everyone got up slowly and groggily, they watched as the bag filled with gifts started to fall back down to Earth.

"OH MY GOD! THE PRESENTS!" Hazel cried in horror and pointed.

"I'll get iiiitt!" Li-san cried and rushed foward, leaning foward slightly as she held her hands out. When the shadow seemed to be bigger than her own, her eyes widened and all at once the bag filled with presents landed right on her! "Oof!" When everyone rushed to her side, she had swirls for eyes and the person up top had a boy right next to him, sweatdrops running down the lad's head.

"Why did I even think that they'd be here on time and without disruption?" the man said with a sigh. As if Ed heard the man, he looked up with a grin on his face.

"Yo Mustang! Get your ass down here and welcome us already! Can't you see we've been _dying_ to see you?!" Ed joked as he pointed, everyone besides Li looking up to where Ed pointed. Mustang slapped a hand to his forehead.

"Daddy? Who are these guys?" the little boy asked, pointing. He looked almost like a mini version of Mustang, just in a chibi-er kind of way.

"Clowns of the Military perhaps." Mustang joked with a sweet sigh as the officers let the group inside.

As everyone was finally inside the Fuhrer's office, they waited for Mustang as Li dragged the bag filled with gifts in.

"I COULD USE A HAND HERE!" she cried, but then noticed everyone was already sitting down inside the room. She muttered some things and when she finally got through the door and closed it, it whammed her in the back and sent her flying as Armstrong burst in. The bag, and Li, landed right next to the carpet.

"I THOUGHT I HEARD A FAMILIAR VOICE CALLING! Dear Hazel, Li-san, it is an honor to see you once more after being away for so long! It brings tears to my eyes!" Armstrong cried, the spotlight on him while sparkles came. He rushed over and gave Li a big bear hug and she started to choke.

"It's.. good to.. see you.. too Major.." Li-san struggled to say and Armstrong immediately put her down.

"Not anymore my good fellow! I am now called Brigadier General Armstrong!" he said proudly. Hazel laughed and clapped as she helped Li up.

"Congrats Brigadier Sir!" Hazel commented and Armstrong nodded happily.

"Hello? I thought I heard familiar voices." a familiar voice said happily and walked in. At an instant, both Hazel and Li were at the man's side.

"HUGHES! IT'S SO GREAT TO SEEEE YOU!" they rejoiced since their anime lover fan took over, really liking the fact that in their world Hughes DID NOT DIE!

"Why do I feel so alone?.." Armstrong said softly with tears streaming down his face. Hughes smirked with a laugh, and the nodded to the door. There was a little girl peeking through, and when she got a nod from her father she nervously walked in.

"Everyone! You remember my lovely daughter Elicia am I right?! Who by the way just turned 7!" Hughes said happily. He then bent down to his daughter, and pointed to Hazel and Li. "Elicia, sweetie, these two are the girls I was telling you about." Hughes said with a smile.

"Oh yeah! Daddy I remember you telling me funny stories about those two!" Elicia said with a giggle and Hughes had his mouth drop a little bit, and turned slightly to see Hazel and Li-san loom over him.

"Funny stories, huh Hughes?" Hazel asked, a brow raised as it twitched slightly.

"How _funny_?" Li-san asked as she cracked her knuckles. Hughes sweatdropped and immediately rose from his spot.

"Nothing that funny at all!" Hughes replied quickly, waving his hands up and down. The group suddenly heard footsteps, and saw seven people both tall and short walk in.

"So, Fullmetal, I see you're already making yourself comfortable." Mustang said as he stared at Ed, already sitting on the silk couch with his muddy shoes on the glass table.

"Yo, don't you have any snacks? Refreshments?" Ed answered, irritated as ever.

"Edward! That was totally out of line!" Hazel scolded and Ed shrugged with a smirk on his face. He then turned his attention to Mustangs kids, how small and cute they looked. The boy was just as he remembered when he and Al had visited two months ago, that firey look in his eyes... just like his father. And the two girls, twins but with one having brown hair with yellow strands; they had their mother and their fathers eyes, and the intelligence their mother had passed on to them.

"Hazel, Li. These are our children Avery, Skye, and Ryan." Riza introduced and the kids said few words, but managed to at least get out the word: "Hi."

"Aww! They're so cuuute! I'm Li the fun one and that's Hazel, the serious one!" Li-san introduced, and smiled when the twins giggled while Hazel in the backround had a vein pop.

"I'm not that serious! I can be funny too you know." Hazel pouted from the backround. As Hughes walked over to his wife Gracia, he smiled as he picked his son up. Elicia decided to stay with Gracia as the two held hands.

"Hazel, Li, this is our son, Jacob." Hughes said, introducing the small boy.

"Oh he's so adorable Mr. Hughes! Congratulations!" they said at once with a smile. Jacob seemed to laugh with a grin on his face, wearing big glasses over his eyes that made him even more adorable!

"Hewwo.." Jacob said shyly. Hughes smiled.

"He's very shy but, once you get to know him he's-"

"Awwwwwwww! Hughes, you're a great father!" the two said together. Hughes laughed with a grin.

"Fuhrer Mustang sir! We are reporting!" a gruff voice called, making the girls turn. It was like a reunion, with everyone showing up just at last minute! There in the doorway stood Fuery, Havoc, Falman, and Breda. They seemed wide-eyed when they saw the girls.

"Well well! If it isn't shorty and Hazel!" Havoc said with a smile.

"Havoc! And I'm not short!" Li said. He smiled and the crew walked over.

"We just came back from our mission sir, and all is well in Iron Town!" Breda said.

"For now that is... Who knows when-" Havoc started, stopping when Li interrupted.

"Iron Town? What happened there?" Hazel asked, making the group turn with sweatdrops.

"Did we just say that outloud?" Fuery said with a sweatdrop.

"Ya. You did. Now spill!" Li said. The reunion started to turn down, especially when all of a sudden news had come on about saying that Li and Hazel's hometown had gotten a request for a mission. Did something bad happen there? They were gone for a long time, so who knew! But then they started to worry. What about Armony? If it was one thing, they sure were missing out on a lot of details. One, who was the mysterious woman that Fletcher had spoken about? And two, what had happened in Iron Town? Whatever it was, it seemed pretty bad.

"Why don't we all discuss this at the dinner table?" Mustang said, and everyone seemed to agree, even though now tensions began rising.

A/N: be on the lookout for chapter 7. plz R&R as well... that is if u haven't lost faith in me hehehe.. -sweatdrop- thanks again everyone. ur support is greatly appreciated.


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